The “Police Academy” star, whose home in the Los Angeles suburb survived the 2025 blaze, previously told EW about some of his heroics during its height.

Steve Guttenberg broke into elderly couple’s home and carried them out during Palisades fire: ‘They hated me’

The "Police Academy" star, whose home in the Los Angeles suburb survived the 2025 blaze, previously told EW about some of his heroics during its height.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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on April 15, 2026 9:56 p.m. ET

Steve Guttenberg in New York City in 2025. Credit:

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

- Steve Guttenberg says he had to break into an elderly couple's home and carry them out to save them from the 2025 Palisades fire.

- The *Police Academy *star told Maury Povich that a "big fight" over getting them out led to the altruistic break-in, but also to the couple saying they "hated" him.

- Guttenberg previously told EW about his heroics during the fire in the coastal enclave west of Los Angeles, saying, "In a crisis, always remember that you are, you're part of a community."

Though he's been candid about quite a few, some of Steve Guttenberg's most heroic tales from the height of the 2025 Palisades fire are still untold — until now.

The *Police Academy *star joined Maury Povich on Monday's episode of his new *On Par *podcast to discuss his ranging career, philosophical outlook on moviemaking, and most harrowingly, his experiences during one of the twin blazes that rocked Los Angeles last year.

"I have a really funny story that I just remembered the other day," Guttenberg told the tabloid TV legend. "There was a couple inside their house, and a friend of mine texted me and said, 'This elderly couple's in their house, and not leaving.'"

Guttenberg sprang into action, not knowing just how tough this particular rescue was going to be.

Steve Guttenberg and Michael Winslow in 'Police Academy'. Warner Brothers/Getty

"So I get the address, I find it, I get up there. And I actually took somebody's car that wasn't my car, because my car was way down, I couldn't find it," he said.

Guttenberg previously detailed some of the ways he helped his neighbors in the coastal enclave west of Los Angeles, while the fires still burned last January. "What happened was the fire got so close and everybody was trying to get out that it became sort of a little bit of a panic," Guttenberg told *** *at the time.

The 30-year Palisades resident noted how abandoned cars littered the streets as the flames encroached. "I knew that we needed emergency vehicles through there, and I wasn't the only one. But I started just moving cars," he said. It was one of those cars he drove to the elderly couple's house.

"I knock on the window and they're watching TV and they go, 'Hey, get away.' I go, 'You've got to leave, the fire is coming,'" he told Povich. The couple remained obstinate, which led to a "big fight" and ultimately, to Guttenberg resorting to drastic measures.

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"I had to break into their house through a window, you know, fall on the kitchen floor, glass everywhere, get up there. The guy's like, 'I'm going to call the cops on you.' I go, 'That's why I'm here, call the cops. You've got to leave!'" Guttenberg remembered.

The couple's resistance to the rescue persisted, forcing Guttenberg to "unlock the door, pick them up, and carry them outside so one of the fire trucks could come by and get them." Laughing, Guttenberg reflected, "They hated me. I mean, the woman's hitting me in the head. I go, 'Lady, you can't stay in this house. Your house is going to burn down!' And it probably did."

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All told, the Palisades fire destroyed upwards of 6,800 structures. Along with the Eaton fire that burned through the Altadena area in northeast Los Angeles, loss estimates extend as high as $164 billion.

Many famous figures lost their homes, from Julia Louis-Dreyfus, to Ricki Lake, to Leighton Meester and Adam Brody. But residents like Guttenberg looked out for their neighbors. Even Dick Van Dyke said he was saved thanks to neighbors that physically carried him from his home.

You can watch the rest of Guttenberg's interview on the *On Par With Maury Povich *podcast above.

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