Ex-soccer star Eric Wynalda lost his home in the wildfires tearing through California — and watched it burn on television before his eyes, according to a report.
“Gone,” Wynalda said of his fire-ravaged home in the Los Angeles County city of Westlake Village Friday morning, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
“Brutal … Watched it burn on live TV,” said Wynalda.
The massive fire in nearby Ventura County is responsible for claiming Wynalda’s home.
The fast-moving Woolsey fire started Thursday afternoon and quickly spread, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of homes.
Wynalda — whose long soccer career included three World Cups and a stint in Germany’s elite Bundesliga — said he received an alert on his phones at about 12:30 a.m. of a voluntary evacuation. His wife packed their kids into a car with important personal belongings and four suitcases of clothes, according to the news outlet.
The former athlete said at around 3 a.m. he went upstairs in his home where he keeps decades worth of soccer memorabilia but suddenly heard banging on his door.
“Two cops were there, screaming: ‘You need to leave now. You need to leave … Now!’” Wynalda said.
A fireball had landed right next to his home, according to the news outlet.
“The firetrucks weren’t even there yet,” Wynalda said. “I went across the street and got an elevated look at the fire and I was like, ‘OK, that’s not good.’ There got to be so much smoke and ash that I couldn’t even see any more, so I left and got on the freeway.”
Wynalda learned his house was burning down when a pal texted him. He then put on the television and watched it happen live.
Wynalda said that the development his home resides in, Westlake Village, has 162 homes, and his was the only one that burned down.
“All my memorabilia is gone. I only have memories now,” Wynalda said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
“I feel terrible, but the reality is a couple nights ago there are people who will never see their sons and daughters again. I think we need to take stock of what’s real,” Wynalda said, referring to the bar massacre in Thousand Oaks that left 12 dead.
“You can replace a house, you can just rebuild. But you’re never going to bring those people back. I’ll be fine.”




