Nick Nolte's House Burns Down, He Escapes Through Window

MALIBU, Calif. — Actor Nick Nolte jumped out a window and used a hose to fight a fire that broke out in his Malibu home Tuesday, authorities said.

The 67-year-old actor scraped his arm and inhaled some smoke but was not hospitalized, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Sam Padilla.

"He is seeing his private physician" for the injuries, he said.

The fire was reported at 11:34 a.m. at Nolte's secluded Bonsall Drive home. The electrical fire started in the living room, and Nolte smelled the smoke from an upstairs bedroom, said fire Inspector Frank Garrido.

The Sheriff's Department said Nolte broke a window to escape.

Garrido said he then grabbed a garden hose and tried to extinguish the fire.

It took firefighters about 26 minutes to douse the blaze, which damaged a portion of the home, Garrido said.

The fire caused about $3 million in total damage, half of it structural damage and half damage to the contents of the home, including "collectibles, artwork, the furniture," Garrido said.

Nolte's publicist, Arnold Robinson, said in an e-mail that there was no one was injured.

Nolte has appeared in such films as "The Prince of Tides," "Affliction," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "Tropic Thunder."

Comments

[Clavis]

02:18 PM on 10/08/2008

He should switch to a hand-held vaporizer. Those electric deals you have to leave plugged are just too potentiall­y dangerous.­..

[bpowell1]

03:19 PM on 10/08/2008

I hope he is okay. I really like him as an actor. I miss seeing him in pictures. But thank God he got out okay.

[frant52]

01:40 PM on 10/08/2008

How sad that so many people are anxious to smear a man siimply because his house caught fire!
I for one am glad to know that this fine actor was not seriously injured and I hope that was lost in the fire was all items easily replaced. All too often photograph­s and other cherished momentos are lost.
Also, I would hope that the mean sprited comments below are not indicitive of the greater part of society.
Good luck to Nick and again I am glad he's not seriously injured.

[primordialsoup]

11:34 AM on 10/08/2008

I'm confused. The headline says that his house was destroyed, then the story says that a "portion" of his house was damaged. Which is it? For his sake, I hope it's the latter. I also hope he's doing well.

[roooth]

11:30 AM on 10/08/2008

Was he inhaling before or after the fire broke out?

[johnnygoodwud]

10:53 AM on 10/08/2008

sounds weird, just like nick

[Qwack79]

10:51 AM on 10/08/2008

Who knew he had a house?

[Felicty]

09:13 AM on 10/08/2008

He must have dropped a lit cigarette in a liquor bottle.

[TrueJustice]

11:54 AM on 10/08/2008

More like a crack pipe.

[Puller58]

06:58 AM on 10/08/2008

Looks like Lee Marvin and has a personal life like Gary Busey. Good luck, Nick.

[MPeter]

08:05 PM on 10/07/2008

Nick is a great Guy. I hope he had comprehens­ive insurance and I hope he is not a Republican­!!!!

[happycat]

07:49 PM on 10/07/2008

I hope the fire didn't start as a result of Nolte cooking up meth in his house.

[machivellianX]

04:37 AM on 10/08/2008

No, the fire didn't start from that, it started when he dropped the crack pipe that was lit, and that caught the rug and curtains going good, he then escaped via the window.

[robXdion]

07:18 PM on 10/07/2008

Ironically this election was beginning to remind me of 48 Hours.