The daytime host, whose Santa Barbara house was threatened by the fire, thanked the first responders who braved the dangerous flames.Making her return after her show’s two-week hiatus, Ellen DeGeneres took a moment during her Wednesday broadcast to thank the firefighters and first responders whom helped keep her home safe from the threatening California wildfires that spread last month.
Now recognized as Southern California's largest and most destructive wildfire, the flare-up on the western edge sent residents in varied communities fleeing, with DeGeneres' Santa Barbara home being one of those affected by the growing fire. “The fires were outrageous. …There were over 8,500 firefighters that came from all over the United States. They worked 24 hours shifts on, 24 hours shifts off. Some of them didn’t sleep for three days. They were incredible people and I wanted to thank as many as I could,” DeGeneres said.
DeGeneres shared the touching moment when 13 firefighters drove five hours from the San Francisco area to serve as the first responders for her and wife Portia de Rossi’s home. Feeling gratitude for keeping her home safe, the daytime host spent some time with the team, sharing a few laughs with them along the way.
“Portia and I sat with them for a couple of hours and thanked them and talked to them,” DeGeneres said. “They were hilarious. That guy was hilarious,” she added, after showing the photographs she and de Rossi took with the firefighters, where one comically posed laying down.
“What they do every single day — we need to thank them every time we see a firefighter,” DeGeneres said, also acknowledging the work done by the sheriff's department.
The daytime host also welcomed every firefighter to her show. “We want to get you in here and entertain you, because you-” DeGeneres said, before pausing to joke that they don’t necessarily “entertain,” but rather “do wonderful things.” “It’s my first time talking in two weeks.”