Bruce Willis’s wife shared a video of the actor meeting first responders in LA (emmahemingwillis)
Bruce Willis has personally thanked first responders who have battled the devastating LA wildfires.
The actor was filmed by wife Emma Heming Willis shaking hands with officials who have responded to the blazes in a moving video on Instagram.
The star, known for his roles in action movies, has rarely been seen in public since his diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis, an aggressive and rare form of dementia.
She captioned the post: “Spotting a first responder, Bruce never missed a chance to show his gratitude with a heartfelt handshake and a ‘thank you for your service’. Yesterday was no different.”
In the clip, the Die Hard star can be seen shaking an officer’s hand, who tells him: “We appreciate you.”
The 69-year-old also greeted other officers before posing for images with one of them.
Fans praised the gesture online, with one writing: “This brought tears to my eyes!
“My dad (who was a retired police officer and who also suffered from FTD) would do the same thing.
“Even as things progressed, his eyes would light up with familiarity and recognition whenever he saw a person in uniform. Thank you for sharing!”
Another added: “Such a beautiful caring man. They will appreciate it so much too.”
Burnt cars sit outside destroyed homes amid the rubble of the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates in Los Angeles (AFP via Getty Images)
Large areas of southern California, including areas surrounding Los Angeles, were threatened by a series of fires last week, which forced thousands to evacuate and torched thousands of homes.
The area scorched by the major fires is equal to three times the size of Manhattan.
Firefighters are still battling the two largest fires, which have killed 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures.
Clean-up efforts have begun in the affected areas of Altadena, Pacific Palisades and other ravaged communities
The US government has not yet released damage estimates, but private firms say the losses will climb into the tens of billions of dollars, and it could become the costliest fire disaster in US history.