Ricki Lake´s Los Angeles home goes up in a blaze of glory

Ricki Lake had to flee her Los Angeles home on Saturday after it caught fire with her and her children inside. The TV host, her two sons, Milo, 13, and Owen, nine, and their dog managed to escape the blaze unharmed, but their rented wooden beachfront home in Malibu and everything inside were lost.

The fire is believed to have started after Ricki tried to refill a portable heater in the rented home, resulting in the sofa catching alight.

“It appears that a couch caught fire and that set the whole house ablaze,” said Lieutenant Rich Erickson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Ricki, 41, and her family were standing outside the property when fire-fighters arrived to quell the flames, but unfortunately they were too late to save anything.

The fire crew also had to cut into the gates of Ricki’s neighbors to prevent the blaze from spreading.

The Hairspray actress later took to her Twitter page to express her thanks to her fans and well-wishers for their messages of support and concern for her and her children.

“Thank you everyone for your concern and well wishes,” she wrote. “My sons, beloved dog and I are safe and very grateful. Xoxor.”

Ricki and her family are now staying with friends in Los Angeles.

Other celebrities in the Malibu area who have lost their homes to fire include Nick Nolte and Sean Penn.

---

---