Sandra Lee’s home has been destroyed by the deadly wildfires currently ravaging the Los Angeles area.
The cookbook author and TV host, 58, confirmed that her Malibu home has burned in an Instagram Reel on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
“Thank you for all your well wishes,” she begins. “I’m in a hotel. I don’t have a home anymore. My house is gone. It’s literally gone. I’ve been crying all night. Thank God everybody is safe.”
She continues, “I don’t know what to say, I don’t know how to compartmentalize this, I don’t know what to do. All my stuff, all the last five years of my life. The only thing I can do is go to work, and I’m going to go to work today.”
She begins to say she’s “going to rebuild it, I think,” but chokes up in tears before she can finish her thought.
Lee first announced that the fire was approaching her home in an Instagram post shared on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
She included multiple videos of the fire scorching the ground and trees near the roads by her home. Another slide showed smoke billowing out towards the Pacific Ocean as birds took shelter by the water.
“My home in Malibu has got me through some of the darkest moments in my life. I have loved creating it, embellishing it, building it, caring for it, and protecting it. I’ve cherished every moment I have had with it,” she wrote in her caption.
Lee purchased the seaside home in November 2019 shortly after she split from her partner of 14 years, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. At the time, PEOPLE reported the single-story home went for $3.38 million.
She spoke to us about the split in December 2019, sharing “I had my couple of months being really, really sad . . . and I have to say that my heart is a little too broken to be open yet.”
The Southern California native told The New York Post of her return to the West Coast, “I feel the most myself there, as I was born in Santa Monica — and I think we always feel best where we are from.”
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Eric Thayer/Getty
“As the fire draws closer, I pray for it — I pray for everyone in Los Angeles right now. What an incredibly terrifying moment for my community,” she continues. “As the fire reaches our doorstep, please stay in contact with each other; Community in times like these is our lifeline. We are all safe but the fire is inching closer to my slice of heaven in Malibu.”
To conclude her caption, she notes why the property is especially meaningful for her.
“When I was a waitress at the Malibu Adobe back in 1989, I dreamed of a home like this (FOR ME) and worked my butt off for it. I am sad but I am sending all my love to all the first responders and firefighters who are literally giving it all they’ve got to keep us safe!!!”
Along with Lee, many other stars who live in the area have been sharing updates on the status of their homes, including Mandy Moore and Jamie Lee Curtis, who shared updates they were safe after evacuating but didn’t know the fate of their houses.
The largest Palisades Fire first ignited around 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and has grown to over 11,000 acres. There are currently multiple wildfires burning throughout the Los Angeles area, and most are 0% contained, according to CalFire.
There have been two confirmed deaths during the Eaton Fire, Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony C. Marrone confirmed in a news briefing on Wednesday, Jan. 8, according to CBS News and NBC News.
