Wildfire Ravages Stevie Wonder's Home, 'Everything' Destroyed: UPDATE

STV — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:30:00 EDT

(Update: Stevie Wonder Cross another address off your Star Maps: Stevie Wonder is the second celeb in eight days to lose his home to fire, reportedly suffering a total loss earlier this week when the ongoing Sesnon blaze claimed his Porter Ranch-area manse. Wonder's house was one of 49 destroyed in the flames, which has burned 18,000 acres in the Valley since a downed power line sparked the wildfire on Monday. And as stunned as we were to hear the cost of Nick Nolte's own infernal tragedy last week, Page Six notes that the R&B icon lost way, way more than a cardboard cutout of Jesus. (UPDATE: The Wonder house survived! More after the jump.)

"Everything was destroyed - all of Stevie's memorabilia, photos, musical instruments, history, clothing, furniture, everything," said our source. "It's all gone. It was his main residence and he is utterly devastated. Stevie's had to put his tour and appearances on hold while he deals with this." Wonder's personal rep couldn't be reached and a rep for his label, Universal Motown, declined to comment.

Brutal. Wonder is currently on tour in Australia and New Zealand, where he'd face postponing eight shows indefinitely while attending to the disaster. Failing a mournful, Nolte-esque encomium for the torched belongings today on HuffPo, we'll piece together an inventory as details trickle out. Heartfelt Defamer condolences in the meantime.

UPDATE (9:20 a.m.): TMZ now notes: "Contrary to news reports, Stevie Wonder's house did not burn down in the L.A. fires. He just called to say it's bulls**t." So who tipped Page Six? Liz Rosenberg?

UPDATE (12:45 p.m.): Wonder's representative issued the following statement to Reuters: "I'm grateful to say that my house was not burned down in the fire. I extend my sympathies to anyone who may have been touched by this horrendous event." Us, too.

Blaze Victim [NYP]

One Dead, One Injured, One Arrested After Roger Avary DUI Accident

Seth — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:26:36 EST

Following in the tragic and treacherous path of Prison Break actor Lane Garrison, currently serving a 40 month sentence for killing a Beverly Hills High School student on a DUI fun run, Roger Avary, the Academy Award-winning writer/director who's worked on Pulp Fiction, The Rules of Attraction, and most recently the Beowulf screenplay, now finds himself in his own living nightmare following a fatal accident early Sunday morning in Ojai. Here's the chain of events, according to the LAT:
· Avary was driving outside Ojai Lumber Co. building at 2:54 a.m Sunday when the accident occured.
· Avary's wife, Gretchen, 40, was ejected from the back seat. She was taken by paramedics to Ojai Valley Community Hospital, with injuries listed as "serious."

· Passenger Andreas Zedini, 34, of Italy, died at Ventura County Medical Center. Firefighters had to pull him from the wreckage.
· Avary was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence and was booked into Ventura County Jail before he posted $50,000 bail.

This all amounts to a triple-decker shit sandwich for one of the founding fathers of the legendary Video Archives in Manhattan Beach. At this point we're just praying that Mrs. Avary pulls through OK.

'Pulp Fiction' co-writer arrested after fatal crash [LAT]

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Wildfire Ravages Stevie Wonder's Home, 'Everything' Destroyed: UPDATE

One Dead, One Injured, One Arrested After Roger Avary DUI Accident