Olympic champion Gary Hall Jr reveals heartbreaking items he left behind in panicked escape from LA wildfires
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Team USA hero Gary Hall Jr has revealed he lost all 10 of his Olympic medals in a heartbreaking escape from the LA wildfires this week. An emotional Hall Jr spoke to CNN after his Pacific Palisades home burned to the ground in fires that have so far killed 16 people.
![[The stunning mansion was burned to the ground in the LA wildfires, Hall has revealed]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/12/16/94012051-14276081-x-a-27_1736700591136.jpg)
As of Sunday morning, the Palisades Fire has grown to about 23,654 acres with containment at 11 percent - while separate fires in Eaton and Kenneth currently span 14,005 and 1,052 acres of land respectively. Hall was one of the many LA residents to have lost their home to the fire, but it was a particular set of items inside the mansion that have left the former swimmer particularly heartbroken.
![[Hall won 10 medals at the Olympics, but he believes he has lost them all in the wildfires]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/12/16/94012097-14276081-image-a-22_1736700487050.jpg)
'I thought I had more time,' Hall told CNN. 'I saw the fire charging down the hill and knew that I had to get out of there. I opened up the back of my SUV, I loaded a painting, one other object. 'By the time I was going back in from that run, hot embers were raining down from the sky. I knew at that point that I just didn't have much time. I could see the embers hitting the roofs of the houses around me and made that decision: it's time to go.
![[The fires have caused devastation across Los Angeles with thousands of homes destroyed]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/12/16/93921841-14276081-The_fires_have_caused_devastation_across_Los_Angeles_with_thousa-a-23_1736700490269.jpg)
Gary Hall Jr. poses for a photo with his dog while sitting inside his Pacific Palisades home. The stunning mansion was burned to the ground in the LA wildfires, Hall has revealed. A post shared by Gary Hall, Jr. (@garyhall.jr). 'The medals were in a closet in my bedroom, 70 feet away, and I didn't have time to go get them. From the time that I saw the first plume of smoke at the top of the hill … I had about three minutes between then and when it came charging towards me.
![[Hall Jr poses on the red carpet at a sporting legends dinner in Manhattan in September]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/12/16/94012099-14276081-image-m-25_1736700495632.jpg)
