The actor spoke with ET about jumping into a dangerous situation to lend a hand over the weekend.
When the chance to help fight a fire and save a life arose, Jerry O'Connell jumped into action. Now, the actor is reflecting on the frightening moment.
O'Connell and wife Rebecca Romijn were on a picket line, participating in the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and spoke with ET's Will Marfuggi about how he helped out when a food truck caught on fire in Malibu, California, on Sunday.
"I wasn't scared at all right?" O'Connell playfully asked Romijn.
"No, he wasn't super scared. We had a massive fire out near our house [several] years ago... Jerry stayed with the fire fighters anyway [so] he was helpful," Romijn recalled.
Although, in this case, the situation did rattle the actor when all was said and done.
"No, I was really scared," O'Connell said. "I actually, uh, I cried when I got back in the car."
The 49-year-old co-host of The Talk was in the car with his wife and their 14-year-old twins, Dolly and Charlie, when he saw the scary scene.
As O'Connell witnessed sheriff's deputies pulling a man out of a vehicle and removing nearby propane tanks, the TV personality decided to help out with the latter task, according to TMZ, who was the first to report the news.
After pulling over, O'Connell moved a gas can, before scaling a fence to grab a fire extinguisher in an effort to keep things under control.
O'Connell told ET that firefighters "handed me a hoe" to quickly try to stamp out the burning brush -- which quickly could have gotten out of control.
"We live in fire country, it's warm this time of year, and you just do what you can to help neighbors out," O'Connell said when asked about his decision to help in the heat of the moment.
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