What started as just another day ended in tragedy for Talis Kelly and her 95-year-old grandmother.
Kelly worked as a caregiver for her grandmother Talis Curry, a longtime Altadena resident who came to LA as a young woman with dreams of becoming a Hollywood actor and appeared in several films.
Kelly took her grandmother to some medical appointments on the morning of January 7th. They stayed in the hospital for five to seven hours for further tests. Eventually, Kari was told she was free to go home.
That evening, Kelly was driving them back on the 5 Freeway and they could see forest fire smoke, But it seemed far enough away that they thought it would be safe.
When Kelly dropped her grandmother off at her house on Crans Avenue, Curry asked if she wanted to stay the night. But because Kelly has another sick family member she needs to take care of, she tells Kari — known to her family as “Mom Dee” — that she'll call her in the morning to check in.
“We smelled a little smoke, but I'm telling you, it was as normal as a normal day in Altadena,” Kelly said.
Kelly was part of a group chat with other residents in her grandmother's neighborhood and texted to let them know she had dropped off Curry and asked if anyone could check to see if there was an eviction order. Someone gave the message a “thumbs up,” Kelly recalled.
When Kelly turned the corner, she saw police officers and firefighters in a command center set up outside Rite Aid. Kelly said she regretted not stopping in the parking lot and asked them about the state of the fire and whether they planned to evacuate her grandmother's neighborhood.
Kelly woke up around 6 a.m. and received a text from Curry's landlord asking if someone had taken her grandmother because an evacuation order had been issued around 3:30 a.m. Kelly immediately called 911. She was turned away a few times before she decided to go to her grandmother's house.
As Kelly was driving, she saw dark wildfire smoke billowing overhead.
“It was black, the whole city,” she said. “I was leaving Lincoln and it was dark.”
Eventually, Kelly was stopped at a police station and gave a police officer her grandmother's address so he could visit her. She went to the Pasadena Civic Center, which was serving as an evacuation shelter, thinking she might find her grandmother there.
About 15 minutes after Kelly got there, the police officer called her. “Excuse me, ma'am,” he said. “Your grandmother's house has burnt down. Gone.”
Kelly couldn't find Curry at the Pasadena center or the Arcadia Community Center, which also houses evacuees. He later filed a missing persons report. On Friday, Kelly went back to Altadena but was stopped by the National Guard. A guard member agreed to take her to her grandmother's house, which had been reduced to rubble.
All that remained of her grandmother's possessions was her blue Cadillac, her refrigerator, a stationary bike and her metal bed frame.
“Everything else is gone,” Kelly said.
By Sunday, Kelly received a call from the Los Angeles County medical examiner saying human remains had been found on her grandmother's property.
Curry was born in Little Rock, Ark. in 1929 and had dreams of becoming a successful Hollywood actor.
He moved to Los Angeles and appeared in films including “The Ten Commandments,” “Lady Sings the Blues” and “The Blues Brothers.” Curry was a top dancer and singer and was mentored by Madame Sul-de-Wan, the first black female actor to sign a film contract with a major studio.
“She always had a fascination with the arts, so she instilled the arts in me,” Kelly said. “I was in radio and worked behind the scenes for music videos.”
Curry then went into nursing and cared for the elderly until her retirement. Her family remembers her as “very attractive”, always wearing a wig and having her make-up and nails done.
“She always told me, 'Well, honey, nothing is as bad as it seems,'” Kelly said. “Even at my worst, it strengthened me to keep talking and talking [the] media. I knew my grandmother was special.
Kelly said that in the future, emergencies could do more for older people who may not be tech-savvy or have access to cell phones or online alerts. Curry has a cell phone, but she doesn't know how to use it, she said.
“They said no knocking on the door,” Kelly said. “There was a text about an evacuation warning, but by the time they got the evacuation text, I heard that volcanoes were already falling from the sky.”
Kelly spoke of her grandmother's love for Altadena, where she lived for more than 20 years.
“Altadena is a place like no other,” Kelly said. “It was multicultural. It was 47% African American. There was a community for us, there were traditions and histories, families passed down the houses for generations.
“My grandmother was there for over 20 years,” he added. “She loved Altadena. I couldn't move her.
Curry's family has begun GoFundMe page In addition to other expenses, it can help cover funeral and memorial costs.
Even if Curry survived the fire, Kelly said she doesn't know if her grandmother would have lived long enough to see it destroy her community.
“Her heart and soul was in Altadena, so I don't think she could have witnessed the devastation I had to witness,” he said.