AceShowbiz - Actress Samantha Rose Baldwin showed an extraordinary act of bravery to rescue her beloved cat, Kitty, amid the raging wildfires in Southern California. Baldwin, known for her role as Shelby Wright in the "Gossip Girl" reboot, faced a harrowing situation as flames threatened the Pacific Palisades area.

When the fires broke out, Baldwin found herself in a dire situation with cars bumper-to-bumper on the roads, making it impossible to drive home. The typical 28-minute commute from West Hollywood turned into a two-and-a-half-hour ordeal. Realizing time was running out, she abandoned her car and ran 15 minutes along Sunset Boulevard to her apartment.

Her father, a security guard at a nearby elementary school, was also dealing with the crisis as he's helping evacuate students. "It was an immediate spring into action and an amalgamation of questions racing through my head - can I get my cat out? Is my dad safe and getting ready to leave?" Baldwin recounted in an interview with Daily Mail.

While worrying about her father, Baldwin focused on getting home first and rescuing her 10-year-old tortoiseshell cat, Kitty. Inside her apartment, Baldwin faced a new challenge: locating Kitty, who was hiding inside the couch. After 20 anxious minutes, she found Kitty, wrapped her in a blanket, and secured her in a cat carrier backpack.

As they exited the building, Baldwin quickly realized the path back to her car was no longer an option due to the encroaching flames. "The fire was all around us," she explained, recalling the terrifying moment when "a big gust of wind and smoke came in so fast that you couldn't see anything." Faced with the decision to run towards the ocean, Baldwin called her mother, fearing the worst.

"I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it," she said. Dodging flaming debris and navigating through static cars, she reached the safety of the waters. The surreal experience, which felt like an action movie, finally ended in relief as Baldwin was reunited with her father and found refuge with a friend in North Hollywood.

Reflecting on the ordeal, Baldwin expressed gratitude, "My body aches. I feel like I got hit by a bus and run over three times. I had so much ash on my face yesterday that I looked like I just walked out of Mad Max... but overall I am so thankful to be alive, and that my Dad and cat are safe."

The Southern California wildfires have led to significant destruction with at least 11 fatalities and over 105,000 evacuations. Amidst this devastation, Baldwin's story sheds light on the love and bravery that people exhibit in times of crisis.