Veteran Hollywood publicist loses home in Eaton Fire, including many precious mementos

ALTADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- As a longtime Hollywood publicist, Harlan Boll has spent his life taking care of celebrities who often become his dearest friends. Over the years, he worked with Bob Hope, Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury and dozens of others.

Sadly, he is one of the many people in Altadena who saw his home destroyed by the Eaton Fire.

"This house would have been the same age as Jimmy Carter," said Boll. "We lived here for 20 years and this was also our 25th anniversary. So it's kind of a double, triple, quadruple whammy."

This is the house Harlan Boll and his partner called home. It's a place he offered for photo shoots and interviews with his clients. But now, what was once so beautiful... is gone, turned into rubble and ash from unforgiving flames.

"As I left, the police were sitting at this corner saying, 'Get out now!' It was pitch black. Lots of smoke in the air," said Boll. "The fire was right on that hill and trees were burning over there."

Now, it has become a graveyard of Hollywood memories. But it didn't burn everything that once lined the walls. Boll grabbed all that he could, including his house guest book signed by stars including Meryl Streep, Liza Minnelli and Kelsey Grammer.

"I was lucky. I got a lot out. I'm angry at myself for forgetting one trunk that had a collection from Margaret O'Brien to Dinah Shore to Rose Marie to Carol Channing to a host of others--Rita Moreno," said Boll. "If we were to sit down and try to figure things out, there were probably hundreds of items that we would have loved to have saved. I managed to save Carol Channing's tiara from 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.' That was the last thing I think I shoved in the car. I'm very, very blessed to have gotten as much as I had out of here."

Boll reflected on what he called his beautiful, beautiful, beautiful house.

"There's that little part of me that's thinking maybe if I come back when it's not a war zone and we start going through stuff, maybe some little thing that I would have loved to have survived," said Boll. "If I start thinking about those memories right now, I lose it. And I can't--I can't fathom that I've lost those connections to those really wonderful people who made my life."