MALIBU, Calif. – Lori McGinley, 65, lives with her cat and dog in an RV on the side of the PCH.
“This here is my thanksgiving fund so I get to give myself thanksgiving with all my quarters,” said McGinley. “This is a little photo album that shows you a little information about my days in Malibu."
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She grew up in Burbank, went to Glendale college, and soon after she sought a life in front to the camera.
“I started out as a model and then I went into acting because I didn’t really want to be a model anymore because it was difficult, to be that pretty and then you get older and start getting wrinkles and you can’t do those jobs. So, then I went into acting,” McGinley said.
She was on shows like Dallas, Dynasty, The Fall Guy, and Hunter. She even knew George Clooney.
“It was fun because he was in my acting classes and we used to do a lot of plays together, so that was fun,” said McGinley.
She was a Playboy bunny, a writer, and a real estate agent who used to flip houses.
“And now I do laundry” she said, laughing uncomfortably.
Her luck started turning after a horse accident left her disabled. Then a tenant took advantage of her; putting her tens of thousands of dollars in the hole. Her home was foreclosed. While she was living in the RV, the fires came.
“The Thomas fire, I was trying to put out the flames on the property and instead it caught my awning on fire, so I had to get the awning to try to stop the fire, but it had already caught the roof on fire the awning and then the trailer fell over in the winds,” said McGinley.
It caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages. Her roof now leaks so she covers it with a blue tarp. Eleven months after the Thomas fire, she was living in her RV at a friend’s house, hooked up to her electrical and water.
Then the Woolsey fire came.
“My friend, she lost her whole house and I was just a renter,” said McGinley.
That’s what put her on PCH.
“Every two hours you have to move 1,000 feet, that’s convenient! Anyway, I get tickets because of it, and I have basically right now $700 in tickets. It’s horrible because they can lock your wheels and tow your trailer,” McGinley said.
Her refrigerator broke and it’s covered in mold. So she can’t keep food in the RV.
“We don’t have electrical for a hook up and I don’t have the hose, or water faucet to give myself water,” she said.
She was already vulnerable and marginalized, the fires just intensified it. Her friends have created a GoFundMe page to help her get back on her feet.
“I need help and I don’t know how to get it,” McGinley said, looking out at Zuma Beach.
She used to own property just up the road, now, she’s on the side of the road.
And although the smoke from the fires may be gone, their impact is still felt.