So many people, soap stars included, have lost their homes to the wildfires raging through Los Angeles and its surrounding areas. One Life to Live vet Joe Lando (Jake, Bold & Beautiful’s ex-Judge McMullen) is the latest actor to share an emotional video, not only to let fans know that his family is safe but to thank his former leading lady for taking them in after having lost everything.
In the video, Lando begins by assuring everyone that “the Lando family is intact. There’s all of us and our dogs and two birds.” Filled with emotion, the actor continued, “Thankfully there are angels in this world… We were left with nothing, except each other, and my friend Jane Seymour allowed us to come up to her house and opened it up for us without any hesitation and thank God gave us some place to come and sleep.” Lando played opposite Seymour for years in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
He noted how it had been just over a month ago when the Franklin Fires were burning near Seymour’s house and how the electricity just came back on days ago, how the gas can’t be used and how water is undrinkable and how you can’t breathe the air, “it’s all poisonous,” then, through tears, shared, “I’ve never been through anything like this. It’s indescribable.”
More: Soap stars forced to evacuate their homes
Thinking of all of the people affected by the fires, Lando wiped away tears and continued, “If it was just us, I’d be really OK with this… but it’s everybody. It’s everything.” Devastated and heartbroken for everybody, he acknowledged that though there were plenty of wealthy, well-known people in his neighborhood, there were generations of hard-working people who lived there too, including his in-laws, who were right down the street and lost their home after 40-something years. “Our house wasn’t big and fancy but it was our home and I worked so hard on it whenever I wasn’t on an acting gig… trying to save money. I walked my kids to school every day. The school’s gone. Everything’s gone. There’s no rich or poor, white, black, brown or blue… This fire’s evil.”
His family went back to the house, given the looting and such going on, but Lando couldn’t face going back just yet. Wiping away tears, he urged, “Pray for everybody here because this is getting worse before it’s getting better.” Though he knows they’ll get through this, Lando stated, “It’s going to leave a scar.”
Our hearts break for the actor, his family and everyone who has been affected by the fires. If you need help or know someone who does, various daytime stars have band together to highlight resources available to those in need.
