Daniel and Nancy McSween have lived on the quiet cul-de-sac of St James Street in Altadena for over forty years. The street has an eclectic mix of houses and people. The neighborhood is comprised of older residents who have been there for years, while the younger residents have moved into the area within the last few years. What made St. James Street special, besides its unique array of mostly mid-century modern houses and its location across the street from the iconic Altadena Library and Christmas Tree Lane, was the mixture of people there. There were African Americans, Asians, and whites ranging from their forties into their nineties, with a few young children sprinkled throughout. Nancy is African American, and Daniel is originally from Panama. Nancy grew up in Duarte, California, and was already in the Altadena area when they met and fell in love. They married in 1983 and would buy their home on St James Street two years later. Their two daughters, who now live in New York, would return home for visits and holidays until the night of the Eaton Fires.
THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE
On January 7, 2025, the winds had been blowing all day. Around 4:00 or 5:00 pm, the McSweens could see the fires on the mountainside but were not too concerned. One of their neighbors said they had received an evacuation warning and wanted to know if they were leaving. The McSweens had not received notice and told their neighbors they were staying. But they advised their neighbors to leave because they were older and had mobility issues. Before going to bed that night, Daniel suggested gathering a few things together just in case, but Nancy never thought that they would need to evacuate.
In the early morning hours around 4:00 am on January 8, 2025, Nancy woke up to smoke in the house. She went to the living room and looked out the window to see large embers dancing around in the wind. By the time she and her husband were dressed and running out of their home, their neighbor’s roof was on fire. The wind was so strong that Nancy was barely able to stand. Daniel ran to get the car while his wife stood in the front yard, watching a fire that appeared to be heading their way. Nancy, like most people with pets, wouldn’t leave until she got her beloved cat in his carrier. In those panic-stricken moments, Nancy grabbed trust documents, investment property records, the cat, and her hair rollers. She and I laughed for a full minute over the hair rollers! Then she went to a neighbor, who had seven dogs. Unfortunately, they were only able to find five of them. After that, she and Daniel went to another of their neighbor’s house, whose wife was on a ventilator, waking them up and alerting them to the impending danger.
After getting into their car and driving a few blocks away, Nancy demanded to be taken back home. Daniel kept driving until his wife threatened to get out and walk back. When he drove her back to the house to get her Mercedes out of the garage, she would see the roof of her home of forty years on fire. Her daughter’s car, which was parked in front of the house, was engulfed in flames. The street was so dark that she had to use her phone's flashlight to move safely up the driveway to the garage. After getting her car out of the garage and driving away, Nancy would venture back again to her street in time to see the living room of her home go up in flames.
At the end of the long, exhausting day in their hotel room, Nancy and Daniel would discover that the clothes that they had so hastily thrown on were marred with burn holes.
INSURANCE WOES
The McSweens, like many fire victims, began the insurance claim process only to receive conflicting instructions at different times. They were first told to itemize everything, only to be told later that it wasn’t necessary. However, Nancy’s background had prepared her for such a moment as this. Nancy McSween has reinvented herself various times in life. Her career has ranged from being a State of California Attorney General Investigator with the Department of Justice to running her own business (Pastries By Nancy) to her current career as a Realtor with Compass Pasadena. Her background in real estate gave her the knowledge she needed to make sure she was not underinsured. She was savvy enough to increase her home's replacement cost to 50% instead of the customary 10%. She kept meticulous records of her home improvement projects. She lobbied the insurance company for an increase in payment for housing and transportation costs to commute from Long Beach to Pasadena for her job. When requesting payment from the insurance company, she submits it in writing, with justification for the request per the insurance policy. Most people would find dealing with the insurance company akin to calling tech support and waiting for hours for someone to help them. Nancy took it on as a personal challenge and completed every task with so much documentation that her insurance company holds team meetings to discuss her.
THE REBUILD
Will you rebuild…and if so, why? That is the question I posed to the McSweens; they both responded with an emphatic “Yes.”
They acknowledge that they are one of the lucky ones who will be able to rebuild. They both state that they are doing it so that they can leave their daughters something. But I think it’s more than that because the McSweens have investment properties in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and New York. The house on St. James Street was home; it was more than a place to come in out of the rain. There were cherished memories there, and they will always be there, even without the walls of their home. Daniel mused, “...the community will not be the same, and I will have no control over what will be built around us.” He stopped and gathered his thoughts, “Maybe it’s an old romantic notion in hoping to participate in the rebuilding and leaving the children a family home.”
Daniel went on to say that although his children, now living in New York, would probably sell the house (and that was okay with him), this new house would be their legacy…their family home.
I spoke with Nancy several weeks after the interview and asked her what she regretted not getting out of the house before the fire. As expected, they were the most precious things imaginable. Among them were family papers, such as her father’s school record, that she had kept secure for years. However, the most valuable thing she could have left her daughters was her great-great-grandmother’s manumission document. That paper would have had the enslaved person’s name, age, residence, the date that she was freed, and how she came to be set free. It may have mentioned a spouse or children. The document often included a physical description of the person being set free. That single piece of paper held so many answers, more answers than many descendants of enslaved people can hope for, let alone possess, and it is now forever lost in the Eaton fires. A legacy that no amount of money can replace.
If you have an Eaton fire story that you would like to share, please get in touch with this writer at 4theloveofbooks61@gmail.com
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