In a devastating turn of events, General Hospital actor Cameron Mathison opened up about the catastrophic loss he experienced in the recent Los Angeles wildfire. His family’s home, where countless memories were made, was completely destroyed, leaving Mathison grappling with the overwhelming reality of losing almost everything.
A Sudden and Devastating Reality
In a raw interview with Good Morning America, Mathison, who plays Drew Cain on General Hospital, described the surreal moment when he realized the fire wouldn’t stop. With his family’s safety being his priority, he recounts the frantic moments leading up to evacuation. “I left with just the clothes on my back,” he explained. “This hoodie, a pair of pants, and two pairs of sneakers. That’s it.”
Despite the physical toll the fire took, it was the emotional loss that weighed the heaviest on the actor. “There’s a lot of things that are replaceable, but the kids’ school projects, their baby photos… those were on film. My childhood memories—gone. It’s so much more than just stuff. It’s a lifetime of memories reduced to ash.”
A Nightmarish Destruction
Mathison’s story of the fire’s onset was both chilling and haunting. Driving to dinner in Pasadena, he saw a small flicker of light on a nearby hill. “I think I saw the Eaton Canyon fire start—it was just a tiny flash. But I knew, right away, that it wasn’t good.” As the evening wore on, his phone began to flood with messages about the growing fire, prompting him to rush home to protect whatever he could.
With winds fanning the flames, Mathison didn’t hesitate to return to his home, knowing time was running out. “I grabbed anything I could—passports, birth certificates, and photo albums,” he said. As he recounted his efforts, the emotions became too much to bear. “I’m glad the video doesn’t have audio,” he confessed, fighting back tears as he shared footage of his now-gutted home.
A Heartbreaking Loss
In the video, Mathison showed the remnants of the house he had once raised his children in, now reduced to rubble. “This is the place where we raised our kids. And now… it’s gone,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. The actor acknowledged that, while he wasn’t the only one affected by the fire, the sense of loss was uniquely personal. “I know hundreds of others are going through the same thing, but this was our home. Our lives are here.”
As he stands with his family amidst this unimaginable tragedy, Mathison is taking solace in the one thing that truly matters—the safety of his loved ones. “At the end of the day, we’re okay,” he noted. “But losing our home… it’s hard to put into words.”
While it will take time to rebuild, both physically and emotionally, Mathison’s resilience and strength are evident. He is finding support in his community, his family, and the kindness of others as he faces this painful chapter in his life.
Through the tears and the pain, he remains focused on what truly matters: the people he loves, and the hope that one day, they will rebuild not just a house, but the life they once had.
