Steve Guttenberg broke into an elderly couple's house to rescue them from the California wildfires.

The Police Academy actor told how he "took somebody's car" to go to the aid of the unknown man and woman in the Palisades area of Los Angeles when the devastating blazes swept the area in January 2025, but ended up having a "big fight" with them because they didn't want to leave their home.

Speaking on the On Par With Maury Povich podcast, he said: "I have a really funny story that I just remembered the other day.

"There was a couple inside their house, and a friend of mine texted me and said, 'This elderly couple's in their house, and not leaving.'

"So I get the address, I find it, I get up there. And I actually took somebody's car that wasn't my car, because my car was way down, I couldn't find it."

The 67-year-old actor explained abandoned cars had littered the streets as the fires crept nearer, so he took one of the vehicles to get to the couple.

He said: "I knew that we needed emergency vehicles through there, and I wasn't the only one. But I started just moving cars."

Steve got to the house and urged the couple to leave their home but they ignored his pleas, resulting in him resorting to drastic action.

He said: "I knock on the window and they're watching TV and they go, 'Hey, get away.' I go, 'You've got to leave, the fire is coming.'...

"I had to break into their house through a window, you know, fall on the kitchen floor, glass everywhere, get up there. The guy's like, 'I'm going to call the cops on you.' I go, 'That's why I'm here, call the cops. You've got to leave!'

"[I had to] unlock the door, pick them up, and carry them outside so one of the fire trucks could come by and get them."

The Three Men and a Baby star admitted the couple "hated" him for his actions and continued trying to resist.

He laughed: "They hated me. I mean, the woman's hitting me in the head. I go, 'Lady, you can't stay in this house. Your house is going to burn down!' And it probably did."

At the time of the fires, Steve vowed to "stand and fight" rather than leave his neighbourhood.

He told People magazine: "At this time I have the choice of sitting down and walking or standing up and doing what I can. I choose to stand and fight. And help."

The Short Circuit star implored people to "leave the key" in their cars if they planned to leave their vehicles behind.

Steve told KTLA 5: "We really need people to move their cars.

"If you leave your car behind, leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there. It's really, really important."