Shelley Sykes, left, with her son Rory Sykes, right. (Credit: @shelleysykes via X)
MALIBU, California. – Rory Sykes, a former Australian child actordied in the Palisades fire Wednesday, after his mother told him Malibu the house burned to the ground.
“It is with great sadness that I must announce the death of my beautiful son [Rory Sykes] to the Malibu fires yesterday”, his mother Shelley Sykes written the earlier this week. According to his mother, Rory Sykes was 32 years old.
Rory Sykes was born blind and had cerebral palsy, making it difficult for him to walk, his mother said. She said her son was killed after the cabin he lived in at their Malibu estate caught fire Wednesday. Shelley Sykes said she tried to put out the embers on the roof of the building herself.
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She also said firefighters in her area did not have access to water as they tried to fight the blaze in the area.
Los Angeles County officials say at least five people died in the Palisades fire, although it was unclear whether Sykes was included in that figure.
The Palisades Fire broke out around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 7, in the Pacific Palisades and has since burned more than 20,000 acres in Los Angeles and Malibu and destroyed thousands of structures. The fire was 11% contained as of Saturday.
