Southern California fires hit home for Star Trek

The current spate of California blazes has made the memorable Star Trek Generations line of dialogue, “They say time is the fire in which we burn” truer than ever. The line, spoken by Malcolm McDowell’s villainous character Soran and inspired by the Delmore Schwartz poem “Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day,” hits home now as Star Trek actors, including Denise Crosby and Kate Mulgrew, share the real-life toll of the disasters on them and their loved ones.

Crosby, who played Tasha Yar and Sela on Star Trek: The Next Generation, took to X, formerly Twitter, on January 8 to reveal that her Spanish cottage in Pacific Palisades, California, fell victim to the fires. “Yesterday morning I had a beautiful Spanish cottage that gave me endless joy, where I met my husband and raised my son,” she wrote. “The only house I’ve ever owned, with fruit trees I grew, with a garden of native plants. Now, ashes. I am heartbroken.”

A few days later, on January 11, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Prodigy star Mulgrew used Instagram to tell her followers that her artist son, Alec Egan, lost everything in the inferno. “His house, his studio, and all of his art are gone,” she wrote. “When he saw what was left of years of work (and love, and the birth of his two children), he said: ‘It is impossible to grasp that all of that life has been reduced to nothing more than a heap of ash.’”

Meanwhile, other Star Trek figures have shared that their properties have so far been spared and that they are safe from harm. For example, on Facebook, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star Kitty Swink, who is married to former Deep Space Nine regular Armin Shimerman, marked them safe from the Southern California wildfires. Others who have marked themselves safe to date include Terry Matalas, Tanya Lemani George, Chris Doohan, Natalija Nogulich, Leon Russom, Raphael Sbarge, Lisa Klink, and Elizabeth Dennehy.

Also safe at the moment is the Paramount Pictures lot where many of the Star Trek series and movies were made. Additionally, according to the industry trade publication Variety, Paramount is contributing $1 million to several organizations, among them the Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, Best Friends Animal Society, California Fire Foundation, and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.