TV star William McNamara details his heroic work saving animals in LA fires
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TV star William McNamara has been doing his part to make sure four-legged victims of the Pacific Palisades fire are safe.
The 59-year-old actor has been going on site with folks from the Animal Advocacy Network and Viva Global Rescue, sharing videos of their efforts on social media as they search for animal survivors of the deadly flames.
In a recent interview with TMZ, the journeyman actor, who has been seen in shows such as NYPD Blue and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, explained why he and the others went on rescue missions themselves rather than calling 911 for help.
'You don't want to be a burden,' he said about taking resources away from those who might need it.
The Out Of Hand actor is an old hand at taking care of animals, revealing that during the 2018 Woolsey fire in Malibu, he helped save numerous animals, including Grammy winner Diane Warren's pigs.
'The guys and gals who are real heroes here is a guy name AC, Aaron Christiansen, and he's with the Animal Advocacy Network,' said McNamara, who shared a video of a cat rescue mission on Instagram Friday.
TV star William McNamara has been doing his part to make sure four-legged victims of the Pacific Palisades fire are safe
'He alone, with the two girls Maya and Kalli of Viva Global Rescue,... they've got the horse trailers...rescued 313 animals' since Wednesday,' he said.
The Amber Road actor explained that ranches out of the fire zone way have been coming forward to offer shelter to the large animals.
'People immediately came to the rescue.'
Those included the equestrian officers from the Santa Monica Police Department, who, after rescuing their horses from where they were being housed in Agoura Hills, 'sent their trailers back to help.'
'Everybody pitches in,' McNamara said. 'You'd be amazed.'
'The animal community... they are the best people on planet Earth and they will do it.'
It has been a tiring time for the rescuers who have been on-call, essentially, since the fire started.
'Nobody's slept. I haven't gone to bed yet,' the American Desert star explained, adding that his face had been burned from the flames and that his eyes and throat were irritated due to exposure to the flames and smoke.
McNamara told TMZ he has been working with Kalli and Maya of Viva Global Rescue, a horse rescue operation, and Aaron 'AC' Christiansen from the Animal Advocacy Network to get animals out of harms way, crediting their group with rescuing more than 300 animals
It has been a tiring time for the rescuers who have been on-call, essentially, since the fire started. 'Nobody's slept. I haven't gone to bed yet,' the American Desert star explained
Since Tuesday, the deadly Palisades Fire has burned through over 20,000 acres of land and destroyed thousands of homes and structures
As of Friday, the raging blaze is 8% contained
'We're always looking out for each other and it's a great community.' he said.
'We really come together in times of need and emergencies.'
McNamara has faced a number of challenged on behalf of animals, including being arrested in Japan while working with Sea Shepherd.
The Vegas Movie Awards winner said he had never seen anything like the most recent fires, referring to them as 'apocalyptic'.
