The Palisades Fire roared through the Santa Monica Mountains on January 7, 2025, changing the landscape forever. For weeks, it consumed Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Topanga, destroying 6,837 structures, claiming 12 lives, and forcing tens of thousands to flee. It was the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history and one of the deadliest in California. For Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union, it was not just headlines on TV. They were watching it unfold from their own windows, facing a danger closer than expected.

As the inferno spread, celebrities and locals alike turned to social media, offering comfort to those who lost everything. Back then, Gabrielle Union shared a photo of the moon and wrote, “Thinking of everyone suffering, grieving, exhausted, frustrated, feeling hopeless and helpless… I pray for healing, peace and protection, strength and guidance. And most of all love. We all we got.” Meanwhile, Wade posted a story with “Pray for California.” Their words joined the chorus of prayers, but what few realized then was that their own home sat within reach of the fire’s threat.

Recently, during Michelle Obama’s podcast, the couple revealed the terrifying moments when flames came close. Union described how she always prepared for worst-case scenarios, saying she tracked escape routes and packed bags early. Yet when the smoke appeared behind a neighbor’s home, she froze in shock. “Man, so I Google? What does white smoke mean?” Union explained, remembering how close it looked. At that moment, Wade rushed in, shouting, “It’s go time!” and forcing their family into action.

Wade admitted the panic shifted his mindset instantly. “Everybody have a game plan until they get hit in the mouth,” he said. That urgency drove him to choose which cars to save, a decision Union found ironic. “He pulls out the three most expensive cars,” she recalled, laughing nervously about how neither she nor her sister even knew how to start them. She revealed, “I don’t know how you get in it! I don’t know how to turn on the radio. We don’t know where exactly we’re evacuating.” So instead of safety, the escape plan left them worried about crashing luxury vehicles in the middle of chaos.

In the end, the couple reflected on what really mattered as they listened to Michelle’s perspective on loss. Wade confessed one regret: not grabbing the photos off their walls. “They’re memories in the moments,” he admitted, explaining that digital backups could never replace what those pictures held. The Palisades Fire tested countless families, and for Wade and Union, it revealed how fragile even the most carefully built plans can be when the flames close in.

Gabrielle Union on earning Dwyane Wade’s family’s trust

For Wade and Union, the fire tested their instincts in the heat of danger. Yet away from the flames, their journey as a couple brought its own challenges. One of the biggest was Union learning how to earn the trust of Wade’s tight-knit family.

When Gabrielle Union first stepped into Dwyane Wade’s life, she quickly realized it wasn’t just about winning him over. His family, especially his sister Tragil, carried a strong protective role. On the podcast, Union recalled, “So when I first met his family, the older sisters, who are closer in my age, [were] immediately good. We’re good in the hood. But with Tragil, because she has been the protector… She has been the watchdog. She has been the gatekeeper.”

Union admitted that before reaching the wife stage, both Tragil and Wade’s mom questioned her. She remembered them thinking, “What do you want? Who are you, you older lady? What do you want?” At that time, both she and Wade were fresh out of divorces. Union explained her stance clearly, saying, “I got my own bank account, so I’m good. I just like him, we’ll see where it goes.”

Even with her honesty, Union admitted the trust didn’t come overnight. “But it took some years, really, to earn their trust and also for them to earn my trust so we could be comfortable equally,” she said. Over time, that mutual respect grew, and Union now describes their family bond as united.

Today, Union even laughs about how things turned around. Speaking about Tragil’s marriage, she shared, “Because she’s coming into a relationship where he’d been married before and he has kids, and I was like, ‘Ha, not so easy, is it?’” With experience, Union believes grace is what sustains blended families. “But you want that grace, you give that grace and you eventually receive that grace. But it’s a learning curve, for sure.”