
Tim Allen Praises LA Firefighters: ‘God Bless the Fire People’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Tim Allen recently opened up about everything from his new show, SHIFTING GEARS, to evacuating from the LA wildfires.
“I was out of my mind, because you get all these texts, and then alarms,” Allen said of the wildfires during an episode of JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, explaining that while his wife started packing the car, he went to “see what was going on.”
He continued, “I go stop the fire guys…I’m going, ‘Hey, what does this rig cost? I mean, what kind of money do you put into these cars? What’s the diesel engine? Is this a new version?’…the guy’s going, ‘Sir, you might want to get out of the road,’ because I’m standing on the road and people can’t get by because I’m going, ‘Hey, this is great! I love firemen!’”
Allen explained that he and his family ended up going to his daughter’s house in North Hollywood.
“God bless the fire people,” he said. “I can’t tell you how impressed and how wonderful [it is] that we have these people that do this.”
READ MORE: ‘WE STAND WITH YOU’: CELEBS DONATE AND VOLUNTEER AMID DEVASTATING LA WILDFIRES
The actor shared that he was part of the creative process when it came to coming up with the show’s concept — a widowed car restoration shop-owner’s estranged daughter and kids move back in with him.
“I said to the guys, when they pitched this idea, ‘I want to be a widower, I want to deal with grief.’ I always was amazed at people that deal with grief.”
Allen shares a love of cars — he has his own car restoration shop — with his TV show counterpart, which SHIFTING GEARS put to good use.
“I let them use one of my cars for the pilot,” he revealed.
READ MORE: SHIFTING GEARS 1.1 REVIEWS
In an interview with TV Insider, Allen said he was so “fortunate” to be working on a show with such talented co-stars.
“They all can do their own scenes, whether I like it or not, without me,” he joked. “And it’s just as funny without me in these scenes. Not a good thing for me!”
Allen also reflected on his career journey, especially when it comes to sitcoms.
“I’ve done a full circle,” he explained. “I look around and I’m on the Disney lot, and I keep walking by the HOME IMPROVEMENT set, which is over that way. I sat in front of the set and they still have a sign on it: HOME IMPROVEMENT. I’m kind of finishing, if you will, where I started.”