Tori Spelling Recalls Her Kids 'Holding Their Breath' in Car While Evacuating L.A. Fires as She Reflects on Mom Candy Losing Home

Mar. 15, 2025

Tori Spelling (left) and Candy Spelling.Photo:Robin L Marshall/Getty; Michael Tullberg/Getty

Robin L Marshall/Getty; Michael Tullberg/Getty

Tori Spellingis looking back on her journey evacuatingthe L.A. wildfires.

“When we evacuated and fled, we just literally, we did the best we could, I would say, in 30 minutes or less,” she said. “In 30 minutes or less, we packed up six lives and three animals… I don’t know how we did it, honestly.”

She grabbed a few sentimental items before she fled, including a 1985 jacket from her elementary school, a seashell her uncle had given her and a couple of her crystals for “good energy.”

Her family piled into her car and they were “stuffed” to the brim with their belongings and their pets.

“We packed everyone in. Everyone was saying, ‘I can’t move. I can’t breathe,'” she said. “And my daughter said, ‘Mom, you’re not gonna be able to see out the back.’ … I mean, I don’t even know how we got ourselves packed into that car. It was like Tetris on the next level — and not in a good way. It was just jammed in.”

Tori Spelling with her kids, Stella, Finn, Beau, and Hattie.River Callaway/Variety via Getty

River Callaway/Variety via Getty

As they got on the road without a set destination, Spelling said she found herself “driving right into the fire,” which made her kids — who she shares with ex-husbandDean McDermott— even more worried.

“I looked and we could see the fire. And all of a sudden, smoke was coming through the vents, and I said to the kids, ‘Everyone grab a t-shirt,’ and I said, ‘Put it over your mouth, hold your breath, and we’re driving right through it.’ And they were panicked.”

“As we were literally driving on the freeway, my kids covering their faces with T-shirts and holding their breath, I couldn’t help but think like, ‘God. I’ve seen this movie,'” she continued. “But we drove through. We drove past it. The kids were able to breathe again.”

Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott with their kids in June 2023.Stefanie Keenan/Getty

Stefanie Keenan/Getty

During the episode, Spelling also broke her silence onthe loss of her parents’ Malibu home.

“It’s not my story to tell, but I know it’s been out in the press that my mother’s beach house burned down,” she said. “The morning I found out, I didn’t wanna believe it … I’ve been in touch with my mom. She’s processing. It’s a lot.”

She said that she and her brother Randy Spelling are “super grateful for the memories” from the beach house, which her parentsCandyandAaron Spellingowned for 50 years and her mother had moved into followingAaron’s death in 2006and the sale of Tori’s childhood home,the Spelling mansion.

“I think our family as a whole — and my mom and brother would attest to this — the greatest tragedy about losing that home was … losing the memories with my dad,” she admitted. “It was my dad’s favorite place in the whole world.”

From left: Tori Spelling, Aaron Spelling and Candy Spelling during The 15th Carousel Of Hope Ball in 2002.Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

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Candy’s longtime friend Nikki Haskell confirmed to PEOPLE on Jan. 9 that the Broadway producer, 79, had lost the home to the fires but was “safe.”

“It’s the house she owned with Aaron for 50 years,” Haskell told PEOPLE. “This feels like an apocalyptic crisis.”

Click hereto learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

source: people.com