LOS ANGELES — What started like any other day for Dalyce Kelley and her 95-year-old grandmother ended in tragedy.

Kelley served as a caregiver for her grandmother, Dalyce Curry, a longtime Altadena resident who came to L.A. as a young woman with dreams of being a Hollywood actor and appeared in several films.

On the morning of Jan. 7, Kelley took her grandmother to a few medical appointments. They ended up at a hospital for five to seven hours for further testing. Eventually, Curry was told she was free to go home.

That evening, Kelley was driving them back on the 5 Freeway, and they could see wildfire smoke, but it looked far enough away that they thought it would be safe.

As Kelley dropped her grandmother off at her home on Krenz Avenue, Curry asked whether she wanted to stay the night. But because Kelley had another sick family member she had to take care of, she told Curry — known as "Momma Dee" to her family — that she would call her in the morning to check in.

"We smelled a little smoke," Kelley said, "but I'm telling you, it looked normal, like a normal day in Altadena."

Kelley was part of a group chat with other residents in her grandmother's neighborhood, and she texted to let them know she had dropped Curry off and asked if someone could check on her if there's an evacuation order. Someone gave the message a "thumbs up," Kelley recalled.

As Kelley turned the corner, she saw police officers and firefighters at a command center that had been set up outside a Rite Aid. Kelley said she regretted not stopping in that parking lot and asking them about the status of the fire and whether they planned on evacuating her grandmother's neighborhood.

Kelley woke up around 6 a.m. She'd received a text from Curry's landlord asking whether anyone had picked up her grandmother because an evacuation order was issued around 3:30 a.m. Kelley immediately called 911 thinking she could have police pick her grandmother up. She was redirected a few times before she decided to head out to her grandmother's house herself.

As Kelley was driving, she saw the dark wildfire smoke looming overhead.

"It was just black, the whole city," she said. "I'm exiting Lincoln, and it was darkness."

Eventually, Kelley was stopped at a police barricade and gave her grandmother's address to a police officer so he could check on her. She then headed to the Pasadena Civic Center, which was serving as an evacuation shelter, thinking she might find her grandmother there.

About 15 minutes after Kelley got there, the police officer called her. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said. "Your grandmother's home is all burned. It's gone."

Kelley couldn't find Curry at the Pasadena center or the Arcadia Community Center, which was also housing evacuees. She later filed a missing-person report. On Friday, Kelley headed back to Altadena but was stopped by the National Guard. One Guard member agreed to take her to her grandmother's house, which had been reduced to rubble.

All that was left on her grandmother's property was her blue Cadillac, her refrigerator, a stationary bike and her metal bed frame.

"Everything else was gone," Kelley said.

By Sunday, Kelley had gotten a call from the Los Angeles County medical examiner, telling her that 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.

She moved to Los Angeles and appeared in films including "The Ten Commandments," "Lady Sings the Blues" and "The Blues Brothers." Curry also was a tap dancer and a singer, and was mentored by Madame Sul-Te-Wan, the first female Black 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," Kelley said. "I went on to be in radio and work behind the scenes for music videos."

Curry later went on to work in nursing and took care of elderly people until she retired. Her family remembers her as "very glamorous," and as a woman who always wore a wig and had her makeup and nails done.

"She would always tell me, 'Well, darling, nothing is as bad as it seems,'" Kelley said. "Even at my worst, that strengthened me to continue on and be able to talk to [the] media. I knew my grandmother was special."

Kelley said she hoped more could be done in the future during emergencies for elderly people who might not be technologically savvy or have access to a cellphone or online alerts. She said that even though Curry had a cellphone, she didn't really know how to use it.

"They were saying that there was no door-knocking," Kelley said. "There was a text about the evacuation warning, but I heard that by the time they got the evacuation text, embers were already falling from the sky."

Kelley highlighted her grandmother's love for Altadena, where she had lived for more than 20 years.

"Altadena was a place like no other," Kelley said. "It was multicultural. It was like 47% African American. There was a community for us, and there were legacies and histories, families that passed down homes for generations.

"My grandmother was there for over 20 years," she added. "She loved Altadena. I could never get her to move."

Curry's family has launched a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral and memorial costs, in addition to other expenses.

Kelley said that even if Curry had survived the fire, she doesn't know whether her grandmother would've lived much longer after seeing the blaze destroy her community.

"I don't think that she could have witnessed the devastation that I had to witness," she said, "because her heart and soul was in Altadena."

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