Why Did Ricki Lake's Malibu Home Burn Down?

By Christine Fenno Posted Sep 19th 2010 12:39PM

Not long after sunrise on Saturday morning, firefighters responded to a 911 call from the home of talk-show-maven-turned-filmmaker Ricki Lake, and found her safely at the side of a Malibu, Calif., road with her two sons and the family dog. The beachfront paradise she was renting, however, was completely destroyed by flames that began indoors (click here to see the damage up close) and ultimately created a fire dangerous enough to shut down a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Today, Lake's publicist tells PopEater that the fire (which began yesterday at approximately 7:25 a.m.) "was very scary, but she and the boys are fine," which echoes Lake's latest tweet: "Thank you everyone for your concern and well wishes...My sons, beloved dog and I are are safe and very grateful."

Meanwhile, the owners of the multimillion-dollar property were reportedly none too pleased to learn that Lake accidentally caused the fire while performing a mundane chore inside the house -- and a source even alleges to RadarOnline that the star did little to stop the flames from spreading, instead spending precious minutes rescuing her personal belongings from the home. So, what really happened?

"When our deputies arrived and contacted Ms. Lake, they determined initially through their investigation that she had been refueling some sort of portable heater, which had been next to a couch," said Lt. Rick Erickson of the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept., according to a local ABC report. "Somehow that couch caught fire. She made an effort to put the fire out but apparently some embers remained and the couch continued to ignite and eventually set the house ablaze."

Witnesses reported 30-foot flames rising in the air from the home's roof at one point, and spotted firefighters cutting into residents' gates next door in order to contain the fire and keep it from spreading.

Capt. Larry Robideaux (L.A. County Fire Dept.) downplayed the drama, telling Radar, "Ms. Lake was refueling a portable heater inside her home and accidentally caused the fire...It took crews approximately ten minutes to extinguish the fire....This has been ruled as an accidental fire. Case closed."

Still, an insider close the the landlord insists, "This has really torn the [owner] apart. They feel that Ricki was negligent in trying to refill an outdoor heater indoors....The family doesn't understand why Ricki apparently made no attempt to put out the fire...She decided to move her cars....even bring out boxes of clothes as she watched the fire burn the house to the ground....They are talking to their lawyers about suing."

Just what daytime TV needs, a Ricki Lake comeback as she defends herself on Judge Judy! Seriously, the most important thing is that nobody was injured in what appears to have been a roaring inferno of a fire.

Tags: Ricki Lake

Comments

(95)

Monday 20 September

By Beach

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The house is, or was, beautiful. I've lived in the house next door and can attest to how nice it is. Ricki Lake is a moron and should be in jail.

Sunday 19 September

By Ray Smith

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At least no one was hurt, and I'm sure the insurance money will rebuild a much nicer house. If it was a rental I'm sure the owners weren't all that concerned about the contents. If they sue it will probably be on a 'fishing expedition' for more money in addition to the insurance money.

By Debbie

I am sure insurance to pay for the house....
Still a bit Fishy!

By Laurel

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Ricki! On Yom Kippur, yet??? Didn't the Chabad of Malibu teach you to use your "Shabbos Goy's" to do things like light fire on Shabbat and the Yom Tov's????

By john

Maybe zhangsan and her dating site should jump into the next house fire!

By C. Miller

Ricki Lake is a moron! What some people will do for publicity. LOLOL

By len

My q' is why was she refueling a heater in Malibu??? did winter sneak up on the home??? there are more q's and investigation needed is she being protected from something... I agree with Lila it just seems like a quick settle to the cause of the fire, this will create many more q's over the next few months as the possible lawsuit begins to arise...thanks for letting me share much peace to all...

By LollieBluCaliToo

It can get very foggy/chilly in the summer mornings in LA county, especially at the beach. Why didnt she build a fire in the fireplace or turn on the house's heating system? Was this apparatus she fueled one of those tall patio heaters people use now? Lots of questions, huh!!

By cb

For those of you morons who don't live in California, for your information, it alway's get's cooler at night! She lives near the
Pacific Ocean probably on top of a moutain, so if she is sitting outside it will get chilly duh!!

Thursday 23 September

By Lee

sounds like the owner might not have insurance on the house.

By William Sowles

The worse thing a person can do is to try to put out a house fire, while there are children inside. The best thing to do is to get the kids out, then call 911. Putting out fires is what we taxpayers pay our valient firefighters to do. Lucky for Miss Lake that she, her kids and pets, got out alive.

By Mary

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Not only did she get out her sons and her beloved dog, but also her two cars and boxes of clothes. If you have THAT much time, something IS "fishy", as another poster stated.

Insurance may pay for it, but it should be Rikki's insurance that pays. You should realize that everyone's insurance takes the hit, as it is our premiums that provide the source of funds to pay for claims! Senseless accidents cost us all!

By mercy

What could she have done, once the fire started? She called 911, got her family and pets out, got her car out,,, I cant blame her for that, I'd do the same thing.
She was,,, maybe... foolish to refill the heater thing the way she did, but once it started, what is she gonna do, she thought it was out, it re-ignited, I guess.
Id have saved my kids, and car too, and anything else I could til the FD got there... who wouldn't

By Jeannified

It can get pretty cold in Southern California, be it day or night, even in the summer. That sounds legit. However, filling an outdoor heater in the house?! NOT smart! No wonder the owners are pissed. I wonder if insurance will cover what the house is worth. Hopefully, they have adequate insurance!

By tommy

refilling it while it was burning?if so she should be responsable and should be sued.

Refilling while burning? I didn't even think about that, but yeah, if she was dumb enough to be refilling it while it was burning, that is ridiculous! Yes, Ricki should be held responsible, financially. I just said that I hope that the owners have good insurance, because it sounds like Ricki is NOT going to take responsibility, and somehow I get the feeling that the owners will be the ones having to cover the expense of this fire, with their insurance. Bad situation! Why isn't Ricki staying in one of her own homes, anyway? Doesn't she own any? Is she that bad off, financially, that she must rent? Surely, this rent is high, so why not just live in your own "owned" home? Makes no sense to me, why celebrities rent, when they live in teh same city, and can afford to buy.

By cfl

I'm glad everyone is safe, but this whole thing is really quite odd. I'm in LA and the local news here reported that Lake first said she was burning some aromatherapy stuff that caught the couch on fire and the house immediately went up in flames...now, this article says it's a heater and she also had time to remove personal belongings. The press, Lake, and the fire officials need to get their stories straight. Surely if it's a rental, they had adequate insurance, but I might sue anyway if I found out that she was negligent.

By Sandra

I just hope they do a more thorough investigation and if she was negligent that she be made accountable for the loss. Why should the property owner be made to pay for her stupidity and negligence?

By royrbauch

i remember her shop on my television set and all she ever had on thar was lisbons. mayble she cheated on one of her past lisbons and she burnt down her dad blame house on fire. she aint nothin but a dad blame dumbo chapuka

By no1nyrfan

"all she ever had on thar was lisbons..."...lisbons?? What planet are you from? Obviously a redneck who can't speak English.

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