Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank via AP ImagesNick Nolte is down and out in the Malibu hills. Or is he?
There are conflicting reports about what actually happened at the actor's beach-adjacent homestead this morning around 11:30.
"When they [emergency responders] arrived, the house was fully involved," Lt. Scott Chew of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff Station tells E! News. "The occupant of the house, actor Nick Nolte, received a small cut on his right hand when he broke a window to escape the fire."
Crew said the house was a total loss. As for Nolte, who attempted to douse the flames with a garden hose, officials say paramedics treated him at the scene for cuts and minor smoke inhalation and that the 67-year-old Prince of Tides star is expected to be just fine.
But a rep for Nolte offered a different take on the events. "No one was injured and there was no structural damage to the house," says publicist Arnold Robinson.
"Mr. Nolte is grateful to the Malibu Fire Department and Sheriff's Department for their quick response and assistance."
Robinson's remarks came in spite of L.A. County Fire Department Inspector Ron Harelson putting the structural damage in the amount of $1.5 million and tacking on another $1.5 million in personal property loss.
About the only thing the differing accounts agreed on: The culprit appeared to be an electrical malfunction.
Sheriff and fire officials didn't immediately respond to queries about Robinson's differing version of what went down.
When asked about the discrepancy, Robinson would only say: "Gave you the info that I got. Don't know what to tell you.
—Additional reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum
(Originally published Oct. 7, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. PT.)