The actor urged evacuating residents to leave their keys in their car so he could move their vehicles, making room for fire trucks that needed to get through

Steve Guttenberg hit the ground running to help people impacted by the fires in Pacific Palisades — and he was almost unrecognizable.

The flames first began around 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 7, southeast of Palisades Drive, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said, and it has grown to cover over 1,200 acres. By 2:23 p.m., it had spread across 770 acres as more than 250 firefighters and other local agencies attempted to put out the flames, per the L.A. Fire Department.

As residents were ordered to evacuate to safety, the Police Academy star, 66, was one of many who jumped into action to help. He wore a light blue baseball cap with a facemask, making it difficult to immediately recognize him as a famous actor.

Speaking with KTLA, Guttenberg urged people leaving their cars behind to also leave their keys, making it easier to move their cars so that emergency vehicles like fire trucks can get through. (At one point, traffic was backed up near Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard at Highland Village.)

“What’s happening is people take their keys with them as if they’re in a parking lot. This is not a parking lot. We really need people to move their cars,” the Cocoon star explained to the outlet. “If you leave your car behind, leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there.”

“There are people stuck up there. So we’re trying to clear Palisades Drive and I’m walking up there as far as I can moving cars,” he added, expressing concern for families and pets who “really need help.”

“It’s really, really important,” said Guttenberg as he rubbed his eyes.

He also told residents that now is the time for everyone to “band together.” “Don’t worry about your personal property. Just get out. Get your loved ones and get out.”

At the end of his interview, which was posted by a viewer on X, the reporter thanked Guttenberg for his time, and asked him his name and if he lived nearby.

Guttenberg, who was in an area surrounded by smoke, kindly shared his first and last name before revealing he lives “right up the hill.” He added that his friends were also having a hard time evacuating “because they’re stuck on Palisades Drive.”

“You’re an actor… You look familiar to me now,” the reporter said before Guttenberg confirmed it.

A rep for Guttenberg tells PEOPLE that the actor is doing “okay” and confirmed he was “trying to help.”

Most recently, the fire had spread across 1,260 acres and was 0% contained. A “life-threatening” and “destructive” windstorm is also expected to impact Southern California, according to Los Angeles National Weather Service.