Our hearts are broken.

Many dear friends lost their homes in the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles and Pacific Palisades. Many of them were neighbors, Hollywood buddies, and friends of mine for more than 20 years in sobriety in the 12-step recovery community, which had a huge presence in the Palisade and Malibu for decades. First, let me say that my wife, Rusnee, and I are safe. We moved out of the fence a few years ago. We bought a house across from a park near downtown Culver, but we spent 28 wonderful years in the Palisade.

My love affair with Pali began when I was 8 years old and living in Philadelphia. My father passed away, and every summer my mother sent me to the Palisades to spend a month with my kind Uncle Bob. He lived on Granola Street and had a front porch overlooking the ocean, where he sat and listened to a young Vin Scully call Los Angeles Dodgers games. That was back when a common working man could afford a fence. I treasure a photo that Uncle Bob took of me when I was nine years old and climbing up the sign on Iliff Street (coincidentally named) where all but one of the houses had burned down .

After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, I lived in a room provided by a set designer friend near Cross Creek in Malibu. My first job after five years in college was as a dishwasher at the Malibu Chart House. Then I moved up to waitress at Alice’s on the Malibu Pier. My girlfriend at the time lived in a house opposite the pedestrian bridge in the north of Gladstone and we would walk to the beach to get there.

After I sold it Breaking point Hollywood money started pouring in, and Rusnee and I built a dream home on Hightree Road in Country Canyon. That was the house where we had our children, Dane and Bella, and where we lived when I began my sobriety journey. In 2003, I checked into Promises Treatment Center, which later became Cliffside Malibu. Three stunning recovery homes sit side by side on top of red rock. Hunter Biden currently lives across the street. For nearly a decade, we have thrived through Wednesday night alumni gatherings at our beach house along Pacific Coast Highway. All were destroyed in the fire.

The following summer, a tragic death caused me to experience emotions I didn't want to feel, and I relapsed. Rusni kicked me out, but I was determined to reunite our family. I rented a room at La Esperanza, Greta Garbo's old beach house, not far from the Reel Inn, another heartbreaking victim of the wildfires. As we say on the show, there was a very sober meeting in Pali nearby, "I made the deal". The great nature, the ocean, the sky, became representations of my higher power. One night at 2 a.m., I was walking on the beach on Step 7, fell to my knees with tears streaming down my face, and humbly asked God to remove all my character flaws. Admittedly, this is a long list. But I never drank or did drugs again. Ruthnee and I recently celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary, and we are asterisked during the five months she kicked me out.

In 2008, the market crash coincided with the WGA strike, during which I lost two high-paying studio writing jobs. We were forced to sell our house in Country Canyon, but we moved to a lovely spot on La Paz Boulevard with a pool and ocean view. When the kids are old enough, they can walk into Palisades Village. I coach baseball and basketball at a recreation center. When my mother grew older, we placed her in the Gelsons' assisted living home, and I walked to see her every day. We eventually moved to the top of Iliff Street, Goucher Street, into a four-story house with stunning views. We stayed in great shape by climbing the stairs and walking the dog up the hill to the water tower. I also often ride my bike up the mountain from the beach.

During this time, I stayed sober, attending 12-step meetings in Palisades and Malibu. I often held meetings at the Palisades Women's Club near Gelson, Barrie. This was where I last saw Matthew Perry, a very lovely man who was also a regular in West End Rehabilitation before his death, as he wrote about in the book. A long daily recovery meeting was held at 7:15 a.m. above a bank that had been moved to Rick Caruso's Palisades Village. The popular Saturday men's gathering, called "Bread and Roses," has been held for many years at the Community United Methodist Church on La Paz Avenue. The church also hosts a writers' conference on Monday evenings. Another popular meeting is Friday evening at Palisades Lutheran Church. I loved the Saturday morning meetings at PCH's Gladstones restaurant. We held meetings at the Palisades Theater across from Palisades High School. Now all this is gone. All these landmarks and shrines of resurrection are gone.

In a world filled with grief and destruction, this was the first time I witnessed a community I loved wiped off the map. It’s a terrifying reminder of how fragile life and everything we hold dear is. Our children, Dane and Bella, are devastated by the loss of the town where they grew up. I have fond memories of those early days of sobriety, walking down the road with new friends, and us eating and laughing at the big table at Vida Cafe after the conference. Now we are waiting to see where our conferences (such as "Bread and Roses") will resume. Of course they will. We must comfort and help all our friends who have lost their homes. I pray that those who are suffering can be the best version of themselves as we all try to help each other out. If sobriety has taught me anything, it’s this: I know we will recover.

W. Peter Iliff is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter and producer whose credits include Point Break, Patriots Game and varsity blueswait. He is serving as an executive producer on upcoming films, including a Renny Harlin film deep water and Claudio Fahey Turbulence. Iliff also rocked out live at local clubs as Naughty Pete, performing original songs about "bad behaviour, staying sober and trying to stay out of trouble".