Melissa Rivers is opening up about coping with the tragic loss of her family’s home in the ongoing LA fires.

In an interview with People, the 56-year-old television host and daughter of the late Joan Rivers said she had developed some armor against tragedies after experiencing the untimely deaths of both of her parents.

But even with her experience of past traumas, Rivers admitted she was still in shock after home and nearly all of her possessions went up in flames.

The devastating fires across Los Angeles have so far led to the deaths of 24 people, and more than 180,000 have been forced to evacuate. 

‘I’ve only had two little cries so far,’ Rivers said of the aftermath of her latest loss. ‘One for five minutes, and the other for about 20.’

But she wasn’t going to let the loss overwhelm her after going through earlier shocks. 

Melissa Rivers, 56, was prepared for the tragedy of losing her home in the LA fires by the tragic deaths of her parents, she told People on Tuesday; seen in 2022 in West Hollywood

‘I’m one of those people who has twice gone through the experience of going to bed one way and then you wake up with your life upside down,’ she explained. ‘First with my father [Edgar Rosenberg, who died by suicide in 1987], and then when I lost my mom [Joan Rivers]’; seen with Joan in 2005 in Hollywood

‘I’m one of those people who has twice gone through the experience of going to bed one way and then you wake up with your life upside down,’ she explained. ‘First with my father [Edgar Rosenberg, who died by suicide in 1987], and then when I lost my mom [Joan Rivers].’ 

She said it was important for her to ‘just keep putting one foot in front of the other’ as she tried to recover.

Read More Joan Rivers’ daughter Melissa seen with husband after losing home in LA fires

‘There’ll be time to really cry later,’ she added.

Rivers revealed to the publication that the fast-moving fire took her by surprise.

She had been at home filming a segment for QVC when her son Cooper — whom she shares with ex-husband Edgar Cooper Endicott — and her ᴀssistant told her the fires were advancing toward the house.

Her first move was to call her fiancé Steve Mitchel to get home as fast as possible, and then she began grabbing important documents and supplies for her cat and dogs.

‘It’s crazy to look down and realize that everything you own in life has been stuffed into three LL Bean Tote bags,’ the occasional actress mused. ‘It’s all just so surreal. I think I’m still in shock.

In addition to the absolute necessities, Melissa told CNN she managed to grab an item each to remember her parents by: her mother Joan’s sole Emmy Award and a pH๏τo of her father Edgar.

Melissa, who announced that her house burned down on January 8, said she rushed to grab important documents and supplies for her pets before the blaze reached the house

Melissa grabbed her mother Joan’s sole Emmy Award, as well as a pH๏τo of her father. But she revealed that she wasn’t able to get their bathrobes and Joan’s favorite sweater, which were her most prized possessions from her parents; seen with Joan in 2009 in LA

‘In hindsight, you want to say we probably could have had more time to get stuff together, but in the moment we did exactly what we’re supposed to do, which was just go,’ Rivers admitted. ‘Because when they say go, you go. Do not stay and be hopeful with your garden hose spraying on the front lawn or on your roof. You’re just getting in the way of emergency services that need to go there, and could end up being part of the problem.’

She announced the loss of her home in a somber Instagram post from January 8.

Read More Melissa Rivers saves late mother Joan Rivers’ Emmy before losing home in LA fires

‘My family and I have safely evacuated and we are deeply grateful to be unharmed. I am heartbroken by the devastation caused by the fires, which have tragically destroyed my home,’ she wrote, before thanking firefighters and first responders for their selfless actions.

Since evacuation, Rivers has stayed at two other places that were subsequently evacuated, and she is now staying at a friend’s home. 

Her quick thinking kept her family out of danger, but she couldn’t help but think about all the sentimental items that went up in the blaze.

‘My mom’s favorite sweater. I had her bathrobe and my dad’s bathrobe,’ she said. ‘Everybody is like, “What about her wardrobe?” But I’m like, I lost the only three things of theirs that I kept in my house because they reminded me so much of them.’

Joan Rivers died on September 4, 2014, after experiencing major complications from what was supposed to be a minor throat procedure on August 28. She ultimately suffered brain damage from going without oxygen for too long. Melissa later filed a malpractice lawsuit against the clinic and doctors who operated on her mother. They settled in 2016 with one of the stipulations being that the doctors publicly accept responsibility for Rivers’ death.

Her father Edgar, who had suffered from clinical depression, died by suicide in 1987, just months after he and his wife had been fired form her short-lived late-night talk show on Fox. 

Melissa, who is engaged to Steve Mitchel, an attorney, originally planned to tie the knot later this year, but now she has ‘no clue’ what the future holds; seen together in May in Beverly Hills

Rivers credited her dark sense of humor with keeping her family and friends’ spirits up. ‘That’s my superpower,’ she said; seen with son Cooper Endicott in LA in 2022

Melissa, who has been dating Mitchel, an attorney, since 2021, was originally planning to tie the knot later this year after getting engaged in 2023, but now she’s not so certain.

‘I have no clue about anything right now,’ she said. ‘My only concern right now is getting settled into a new place and out of our friend’s hair, getting the animals back together.’ 

She noted that she found it therapeutic to check in on her friends to make sure that they were safe.

‘Maybe I’m just trying to not deal with reality, but it’s still helping me,’ she said.

Melissa, who called herself her ‘parents’ daughters,’ said she learned to persevere through her parents and their ‘family motto,’ which she said originated with Winston Churchill.  

‘”If you’re going through hell, keep going,”‘ she quoted. ‘There’ll be time to wallow later. 

‘Right now is not the time that I am capable of feeling sorry for myself’ Rivers continued. ‘I know it is going to hit me at some point, but right now I don’t have time to let it hit me.’

One tiny blessing in this trying time was her ‘dark sense of humor,’ which kept those around her laughing and in good spirits. 

‘That’s my superpower,’ she said.