Lost's Lilly Loses Home

Wed., Dec. 20, 2006 2:21 PM PST by Gina Serpe

Evangeline Lilly's Hawaiian home is officially a lost cause.

The TV star's rented Kailua residence was gutted by fire early Wednesday. Fortunately, Lilly and her two roommates weren't home at the time of the blaze and no one was injured. A spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department says the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

"Evangeline was on set already when the fire occurred," said publicist Cara Tripicchio. Wednesday was the final day of shooting on Lost's Waialua Beach location before the Christmas break.

Lilly's two female roommates, both of whom work on the Lost crew, were also away at the time of the fire, though one of them did return home, and refused comment, shortly after the flames were put out. Likewise, Lilly's on- and offscreen costar Dominic Monaghan was spotted at the scene, but he declined to speak to reporters.

Lilly and her pals have been living in the rental home since arriving on the island two years ago to begin their Lost tenure.

The first calls reporting the flames came in to the Honolulu Fire Department at 6:45 a.m., about 15 minutes after neighbors first began hearing loud "popping" electrical noises and realized the home was on fire.

The fire spread quickly, fully engulfing the house by the time firefighters arrived.

Before the fire department showed up, Jorge Duarte told the Honolulu Advertiser he broke the glass on the door to see whether anyone was inside. When black smoke came pouring out—and he presumably realized it was no special-effects monster he was battling—he backed out and joined several locals in turning garden hoses on the house.

The flames were extinguished within 20 minutes of the firefighters' arrival. However, they were unable to immediately enter the home to assess the damage because bars on the windows prevented them from easily entering the scorched property.

Coincidentally—or not, depending on one's view of the Lost world—a conflagration is central to the back story of Lilly's character, Kate. After taking out an insurance policy, Kate blows up her home, with her boozy, abusive stepdad inside, and she watches it burn to the ground. The incident launches Kate's career as a fugitive.

The real-life drama is the one blight on an otherwise banner year for Lilly. Aside from her ongoing relationship with Monaghan (the two are not engaged, despite reports to the contrary), Lilly managed to nab Lost's only Golden Globe acting nod this month, getting nominated as Best Actress in a Drama. The awards will be handed out Jan. 15.

Lost, meanwhile, returns to ABC's schedule on Feb. 7.