Photo: Kelly Monaco/Instagram
Kelly Monaco’s mom, Carmina Monaco, is opening up after a scaryfire erupted at the actress’s Sherman Oaks home.
On May 13, theGeneral Hospitalstar’s property was severely damaged in a fire, but she escaped unharmed, PEOPLE confirms. Carmina spoke with PEOPLE about how the terrifying incident has affected her daughter.
“Kelly is a real homebody, so this is very hard for her,” Carmina tells PEOPLE. “She’s not someone who is out on the town every night, going to clubs or red carpets. She likes to go to work and come home to relax.”
Since she lives a “fairly secluded life,” Carmina says the incident has been “very disruptive,” for the actress. “She likes the security of being at home,” Carmina adds. Since the blaze, which made the home uninhabitable, Kelly has been staying in an Airbnb.
The star’s mom adds that the damage to her entire property is “massive.” Not only is the landscaping ruined, but the entire left side of the house is “completely charred and destroyed.”
“The whole house was filled with extensive smoke. It’s not livable currently,” she says. “They say it’ll be at least a month before she can get back into the other parts of her home. Rebuilding will take longer.”
Despite everything Kelly lost in the fire, her mom is relieved that she made it out of the fire safely with only minor irritations in her lungs as a result of the smoke.
“It could have been a bad day. She could have been hurt. Other homes could have been damaged. They didn’t have winds out there that day. So many things could have went really wrong, really fast,” she adds.
David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty
Kelly, who has security footage for her home, gave videos to investigators. The footage showed a person throwing a lit cigarette into a lot next to her house.
The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed to PEOPLE that arson investigators were added to the incident and it is still an open investigation to determine if foul play was involved.
Before her breakout role on the long-running soap opera, she also appeared in ABC’sPort Charles.
She returned toDancing with the Starsin 2012 to compete to win another mirror ball trophy. While she did, once again, make it to the final round with partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy, she placed third in the 15th season of the competition show.
Most recently, she rejoined the franchise in 2017 to join in on a trio rumba during one episode of the show’s 25th season.
Antonia DeBianchi
source: people.com
