Gary Hall Jr.Photo:Mike Coppola/Getty

Gary Hall Jr. attends The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis’ 39th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner, at the Hilton Midtown on September 30, 2024 in New York City. The event raises the much-needed funds for The Buoniconti Fund, the fundraising arm of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a designated Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of medicine and the world’s premier spinal cord injury research center

Mike Coppola/Getty

As multiple wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles, and Olympic swimmerGary Hall Jr.is among thousands of residents who have lost their homes and belongings.

In an interview withThe Sydney Morning Herald, Hall Jr. shared that the home he was renting in the Pacific Palisades was destroyed in blaze that began on Tuesday, Jan. 7 along with all of his possessions, including his 10 cherished Olympic medals.

Hall Jr. continued, adding “The embers were raining down on me as I jumped into my car. I had time to grab my dog and just a couple of personal items. It’s just every person for themselves.”

LA fires.Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty

Firefighters battle flames during the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty

“I did think about the medals. I did not have time to get them,” Hall Jr. said. “Everyone wants to know did the medals burn? Yeah, everything burnt. It’s something I can live without. I guess everything is just stuff. It’ll take some hard work to start over. What can you do?”

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LA fires.DAVID SWANSON/AFP/Getty

Fire personnel respond to homes destroyed while a helicopter drops water as the Palisades Fire grows in Pacific Palisades, California on January 7, 2025

DAVID SWANSON/AFP/Getty

Speaking about how he anticipates to feel once he’s allowed to go back to his burned home, Hall Jr. said, “It’ll be a range of emotions, particularly when it’s time to go back to where the house stood. I’ll shift through the ash and see if the medals melted together. Will I be able to find anything worth saving? Probably not. I don’t know.”

A friend set up aGoFundMeto support Hall Jr., as he is currently staying with family while he decides what’s next. Over $32,000 has been raised towards the $50,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon.

LA fires.David McNew/Getty

The remains of a burned home smolder at the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California.

David McNew/Getty

During a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 9, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the death toll from the L.A. fires is currently unknown.

“This continues to be a fluid and evolving crisis, and the numbers that we release throughout this incident are going to fluctuate," Luna said. “So anything we say is subject to change.”

source: people.com