By April MacIntyre May 12, 2009, 2:11 GMT
Rob Lowe had a stressful close call.
11/01/2008 - Rob Lowe -Lots of well-heeled folks like Oprah, Rob Lowe and Kathy Ireland’s mansions were all threatened by the wildfires in and around Santa Barbara and only Extra was with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lowe to get their eyewitness account of the devastation. © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos
“I could see the flames from my backyard. We were crossing our fingers,” the "St. Elmo's Fire" actor told Extra.
Lots of well-heeled folks like Oprah, Rob Lowe and Kathy Ireland’s mansions were all threatened by the wildfires in and around Santa Barbara and only Extra was with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lowe to get their eyewitness account of the devastation.
The fires, which were apparently ironically started by power tools clearing fire hazard brush, tore through Southern California and came too close for comfort to Lowe’s $25 million ranch. “I could see the flames from my backyard. We were crossing our fingers.”
The firefighters were battling the blaze that had already burned 77 homes to the ground and caused 30,000 people to be evacuated. Governor Schwarzenegger showed his support saying, “I wanted to come up here, let people know we, the state is 100% behind them. We’ll do everything we can to get their lives back again as quickly as possible.”
Despite the damage, the Governor and Lowe are optimistic. Schwarzenegger says, “The good side of it is the firefighters are the best in the world. They’re tough. They’re up there day and night fighting those fires.” Lowe adds, “It’s also inspiring because you see this community come together. You see law enforcement from all over the state…People come from all over, really pull together.”
On a lighter note, Schwarzenegger jokes about his rumored cameo in the upcoming "Terminator: Salvation" movie.
“With the latest technology, I don’t have to do any work for that. They can do it with special effects. Just take the image of the 1984 movie. They put it in the 2009 movie. It’s all magic. The day you can make a living without doing anything. In this job, I don’t get paid. I got to make my money somewhere.”
“Extra’s” interview with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rob Lowe airs tonight.
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