Dick Van Dyke reflects on escaping California wildfire and turning 99

Legendary film and television actor Dick Van Dyke is giving credit to neighbors and other good Samaritans for helping him escape a raging wildfire in Malibu, California.

In an interview with Los Angeles ABC station KABC, the Mary Poppins star reflected on the close call as he wrestled with a fire hose and grew tired before neighbors and good Samaritans saved him before the Franklin Fire closed in on his home last week.

“I have a fire hose, which I put in the pool, and it makes a nice big stream,” he told KABC. “I got it out and it was in snarls, and I’m down on the ground wrestling with this thing, trying to get it undone and the fire is coming over the hill … I didn’t realize, but I had exhausted myself.”

“I couldn’t get up. They had to pick me up and carry me to the car,” Van Dyke said. He said the group also put out the fire, which was burning his guest house.

“They saved my house and my life, these guys. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be here,” he said.

In the interview with KABC, Van Dyke also discussed his 99th birthday, which he celebrated on Friday, sharing that the secret to his long and prosperous life is to avoid being hateful. “Haters don’t live very long,” he said.

“The funny thing is I’ve never met a 99-year-old person, so I don’t know how to behave. How do you act when you’re 99?” he joked.

Van Dyke was one of about 20,000 people under evacuation as the Franklin Fire swept the coastal community beginning Monday, Dec. 9. As of Sunday, the more than 4,000-acre fire was 42% contained and had destroyed at least nine structures, including four homes, and damaged six additional homes, officials said.