Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd is fighting to save his home in the Montecito wildfire raging through California. Buildings on Lloyd's property sustained major fire damage on Thursday night and through Friday, with part of the estate turned to ruins.

The actor, who played zany professor Doc Brown in the Back To The Future trilogy, was alerted to the sad news by phone - he's currently shooting a movie on location in Canada.

Lloyd attempted to sell the property early last year but later pulled his home off the market.

The main house is a local landmark - it was built in 1972 from adobe bricks made on-site, according to the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

Lloyd is due to return to California later this month to prepare for his stint as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the Kodak theater.

At press time, Lloyd was the only Montecito celebrity whose home has been hit by the blaze, but others are on high alert, including Rob Lowe - him and his family have fled their property.

Lowe phoned in to neighbor Oprah Winfrey's show on Friday to describe the chaos in the celebrity community.

He said, "We got in the car, pulled out of the driveway and the entire mountain behind us was flames, 200 feet high, shooting into the air...This thing came on so fast, you just can't believe it. I've watched 12 or 13 homes burn to the ground. It's so tragic. It was Armageddon."

Other celebrities with properties at risk include Kevin Costner, Jeff Bridges and Ellen Degeneres.

So far, more than 100 houses have burned to the ground.