Rob Lowe 'sad and numb' after childhood home burned in wildfires

US actor Rob Lowe said it has been "surreal" to learn that parts of Malibu where he grew up have been destroyed in California's devastating wildfires.

"My childhood home burned to the ground," he said. "Hearing about flames going over certain streets I ran around on as a young boy was just surreal," he told the BBC's Colin Paterson.

"I know so many people who have lost their homes there. It's unimaginable."

The West Wing star and one-time "Brat Pack" member is filming in the UK.

He is starring in ITV police drama Wild Bill.

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Speaking in Boston in East Lincolnshire, Lowe revealed that streets where he, his mother and his brother Chad used to live have been decimated.

"A lot of my childhood memories of that area will never be the same."

Lowe described the fires that have swept through California as a "perfect storm" and called for firemen to receive "the resources they need".

"We've always had these fires, but they're just worse [now] so we just have to ramp it up," he continued.

Lowe, who came to prominence in such 80s films as The Outsiders and St Elmo's Fire, went on to play a White House staffer in political drama The West Wing.

The 54-year-old star will present his one-man show, Stories I Only Tell My Friends Live, in London on 1 December and in Brighton on 16 February.

Wild Bill, which he also executive produces, will see him play an American police officer who comes to the UK when he is appointed Chief Constable of the East Lincolnshire Police Force.

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