Chili Pepper Flea house nearly burned

Nov 26, 2007, 14:30 GMT

Red Hot Chili Peppers\' bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary performs at the Green Fest Music Festival in Serbian town of Indjija, some 50 km west from Belgrade, 26 June 2007. EPA/SASA STANKOVIC

Red Hot Chili Peppers rocker Flea's £2.6 million home has been nearly destroyed by fire.

The 45-year-old bassist's luxurious Malibu mansion was not "burnt to a crisp" by the wild brush fires which swept through the US state at the weekend.

Luckily, Flea - real name Michael Balzary - was not at home at the time of the blaze.

Hollywood stars Minnie Driver, 37, and Matthew McConaughey, 38, were among the 20,000 residents forced to evacuate their homes as the flames spread.

Britney Spears, Jim Carrey, Sting, Pierce Brosnan, Courteney Cox and Bill Murray's houses were also threatened by the fire, which has destroyed at least 49 multi-million dollar homes.

The fire - which is believed to have been started by either arsonists or a falling power line - began at around 3.30am on Saturday (24.11.07) and spread rapidly in the dry conditions and 60mph winds.

One of the 1,700 fire-fighters struggling to battle the blaze described it as "like a blowtorch with a huge hairdryer behind it".

DC-10 jet planes dropped flame-dousing powder and helicopters took water from swimming pools in an attempt to control the blaze, but as of yesterday morning (25.11.07) the fire was only 25 percent contained and 4,650 acres had been turned to ash.

Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed a state of emergency just as he did during the brush fires last month.

Last night, some residents began returning to their homes as the blaze calmed down. No one is thought to have died.

In October, 14 people were killed, 1,500 homes were destroyed and 250,000 residents were evacuated.

(C) BANG Media International