Heidi Montag on what it took, left behind the LA fires

Reality TV star Heidi Monday open to Us Weekly in an exclusive interview about what he took – and what he wishes he didn’t leave behind – when evacuating the LA wildfires.

“I didn’t know what to do,” The Hills alum said Us on Wednesday, January 15, referring to the moment she realized she and her family had to flee the raging fire burning through the Pacific Palisades. “Nothing could have prepared me for that… You just can’t wrap your head around it. I started packing things that made sense – I wasn’t really thinking about anything else.”

Heidi, 38, and her husband, Spencer Prattlost their home in the fire, according to an initial Instagram post shared by Spencer’s sister, Stephanie Pratton January 7. Heidi and Spencer, 41, share children Gunnar, 7, and Ryker, 2.

Heidi, in a panic, revealed that her priority in packing up their lives was “the kids’ stuff.”

“So I got their teddy bears. I got Gunner’s teeth from the random fairy she left in my closet, so I grabbed that,” he explained. “I grabbed a few documents we had – the ones that had been pre-packed (some) years ago from the (previous) fires. I grabbed two pairs of jeans and two shirts. I grabbed a pair of shoes – a random pair of sneakers. “

In the couple’s haste, they were also forced to leave behind a host of cherished items – items that have now been destroyed. One item, Spencer explains, was a special Christmas present that he had convinced his wife to buy for herself.

“She got nothing,” he said to view360 Us. “Then, before Christmas, he found himself in the Palisade Village with these Golden Goose shoes. It was a great gift for her. I was like, ‘Just get your Golden Goose.’ She didn’t.

Heidi explained that she thought she would be able to “be back for them.”

“It hit me at the end of the pack that I might not come back,” he added. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to go to the kids’ room and I need to grab their bears. And I had Gunner, he had a fever of 104 – he’d had that for days – and I was so worried about him … (I was) just grabbing at things and worrying and wandering around aimlessly. “
As well as her new shoes, Heidi said she wished she had taken “pictures” which she explained she can no longer bring back.

“I don’t have any pictures,” he said. “I have all these photo albums I made for rSpencer before there was Instagram and TikTok and iPhone. I will never have these (those) pictures again. All these sentimental things are just gone, you know?”

So far, the Palisades, Eaton and other smaller fires have burned a combined 38,600 acres, according to NBC News. At least 27 people have died and 12,000 structures have been destroyed. Multiple celebrities, incl Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Paris Hilton a Miles Tellerhave lost their homes in the fire.

For Heidi and Spencer, it’s not the “stuff” they miss so much as their community.

“I miss our friends. I miss our life every day. I miss dropping my son off at school there. I miss our whole world and I’m so sad for all of our friends,” she told us through tears. “I am so sad for our whole community. It’s not just our loss—literally the loss of our city; a community we are all such an active part of.”

He continued, “(It’s) just the daily routine (that) you miss – waking up in your bed with your mirrors and your pillows and the smells of your house and the kids. It’s so hard.”

Check the LAFD website for local wildfire warnings and click here for resources on how to help those affected.

With reports from Andrea Simpson