‘This Is Us’ star Milo Ventimiglia loses home to Los Angeles fires in chilling reflection of on-screen tragedy

Actor Milo Ventimiglia has revealed that his family’s home in Malibu has burned down in the city Los Angeles fires — an eerie reflection of the tragedy that befell his character on the NBC drama series “This Is Us.”

Ventimiglia, a 47-year-old father-to-be, is among them celebrities hit of the destructive flames that broke out this week amid high winds. He spoke to CBS News as he returned home for the first time after evacuating to survey the damage on his burned street.

Although neighbors had already told him that his home had been destroyed, seeing it in person made it real.

“You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house and whatnot, and then you see your neighbors’ houses and everything around and your heart just breaks,” Ventimiglia said.

Ventimiglia and his pregnant wife, Jarah, evacuated Tuesday and watched security cameras as flames from the Palisades fire took over. The couple grabbed everything they could think of — but not everything, like the crib and other belongings in their baby’s nursery.

In “This Is Us,” Ventimiglia’s character Jack Pearson dies of smoke inhalation after his home burns down on the show.

“You know, it’s not lost on me, life imitates art,” Ventimiglia said.

In 2018, Ventimiglia recalled filming the challenging scene in an interview with Weekly entertainment.

“Your live effects team that was in charge of it were so responsible, yet when you’re staring at a seven-foot wall of flames, it’s hard not to be completely freaked out by the brutal, violent fear of what it represents .” he told the outlet.

But unlike Jack, Ventimiglia is still here, with everything, he says, that really matters.

“We have good friends and we have good people we work with and we’ll be fine. Wife and baby and dog, most importantly,” Ventimiglia said.

After the fictional fire on “This Is Us,” Ventimiglia became an advocate for fire safety. Now, he says his interest has turned to fire safety and is already thinking about how he can help his community and others.