Barbara Corcoran Discusses L.A. Wildfires and Her Husband's Health Challenges - NewsFinale

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Barbara Corcoran on Her Husband — Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Churchill Downs

Investor and Shark Tank shark Barbara Corcoran is among the many who lost a home in the wildfires that have torn through Los Angeles throughout January. The Corcoran Group founder saw her vacation home at Tahitian Terrace in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood fall victim to the natural disaster that has damaged more than 18,000 structures.

Corcoran, 75, was traveling with her daughter in South America when the fires broke out and, as she followed the news, could only hope that her neighborhood stayed safe.

“[It] Just didn’t seem real, the whole concept of the fires,” she recalled to Us Weekly exclusively. “And then when I realized Tahitian Terrace was part of the fire zone, I was scared to death, but somehow deep in my heart, I felt I wouldn’t lose that place.”

In trying times, Corcoran would normally lean on her husband of 37 years, Bill Higgins. But as Corcoran explained, Higgins is battling dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

“He has been ill for many years, but I felt I had nobody to cry on,” she said. “And I wasn’t going to take my 19-year-old and wet her t-shirt or sweatshirt. So I really leaned on my friends.”

Corcoran explained that she owned her house for five years and in that time, there were only three weeks where someone wasn’t staying there. When the fire happened, she said, friends sent her photos of the happy times they had while staying there.

“That offset the picture of the fires that I was seeing,” she continued. “It really helped me heal because they mourned with me. They really mourned with me.”

Corcoran’s privilege is not lost on her. The TV star and businesswoman acknowledges that the Tahitian Terrace property was a vacation home, while for many others in the neighborhood, it was their only home.

“I didn’t even think it makes sense that I’m feeling badly,” she admitted.”Most of [my neighbors] didn’t have insurance and most of them lost everything they have. So for me to even feel bad for myself for a second seemed sacrilegious.”

So Corcoran went to work. She started a GoFundMe to help raise money for those in her neighborhood, kicking things off with two $50,000 donations herself. As of January 28, the page’s most recent update, the GoFundMe has helped support “over a dozen residents” of the community.

The page has raised $184,049 with a $600,000 goal. Funds will support residents’ rent, clothing and food needs, as well as medical supplies and “tools to get hardworking artists, writers, coaches and musicians back to their livelihoods.”