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Shelley Sykes, left, with son Rory Sykes, right. (Source: @shelleysykes via X)

MALIBU, CALIFORNIA. – Rory Sykes, a former Australian child actor, died in the Palisades fire on Wednesday after his mother said his Malibu home burned to the ground.

“It is with great sadness that I announce yesterday the death of my beautiful son (Rory Sykes) in the Malibu fires,” his mother, Shelley Sykes, wrote on X earlier this week. According to his mother, Rory Sykes was 32 years old.

Rory Sykes was born blind and with cerebral palsy, which made it difficult for him to walk, his mother said. She said her son was killed after the cottage he lived in on her Malibu property caught fire on Wednesday. Shelley Sykes said she tried to put out the embers on the roof of the building herself.

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She also claimed that firefighters in her area did not have access to water while trying to fight the fire in the area.

Los Angeles County officials said at least five people died in the Palisades fire, but it was not clear whether Sykes was included in that number.

The Palisades Fire broke out in the Pacific Palisades around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 7, and has since burned more than 20,000 acres in Los Angeles and Malibu and destroyed thousands of structures. The fire is 11% contained as of Saturday.