Firefighting family recalls saving Altadena homes in Eaton Fire

Lievense Family Heroes Save Neighborhood from Eaton Fire

On January 8, 2025, the Eaton Fire struck Altadena in the early morning. Three men from the Lievense family took action. Their goal was to save two family homes, but it turned into a mission to protect the entire neighborhood.

One year later, ABC7’s Marc Brown interviewed the hometown heroes who did everything to save their community.

“This is your street mom, we’re going to save it though,” James Lievense said in a video while walking through the burning neighborhood.

Lewis Avenue was engulfed in flames that morning, but the Lievense family was ready to fight.

Family Response to the Fire

“I picked up the phone, called my brother who was off duty and lives in San Dimas and said, ‘Hey, you gotta get up to our neighborhood. It’s on fire,’” said Dan Lievense, a captain with the Los Angeles Fire Department. He has lived on Lewis Avenue most of his life.

Dan’s brother Matt is an engineer with the LAFD, and Dan’s son James is training to be a firefighter. Together, they fought the flames.

“We saved four houses on Lewis, ten houses on Morada, two commercial buildings on Lake Avenue, and two apartment complexes on Lake Avenue,” Dan said. “Three people.”

James Takes Action

The firefight began with 20-year-old James, who was alone while his father battled the Hurst Fire in Sylmar and his uncle raced from San Dimas. James started pulling out ladders and spraying with a garden hose.

“For him to stay up all night, you know, brings tears to my eyes,” Dan said. “He made those decisions by himself. He wasn’t scared. He stayed, even though he had mom and grandma screaming, ‘You gotta go, you gotta go.’”

James’ mother, Stephanie Lievense, recalled calling Dan. “I said, ‘This is on you, this is on you now, whether James is OK or not, I’m putting that in your hands.’”

James felt safe once his uncle arrived.

“As soon as I saw my uncle, I knew my dad was on his way. I was never scared that something bad was gonna happen to me,” James said.

Working Together to Fight the Fire

Matt and James then raced to the nearest fire station, grabbing hoses and equipment as flames surrounded them.

“As soon as I made the left, I thought, ‘oh it’s gone.’ That whole street is gone,” Matt said.

The men worked through the night and into the next day, creating water curtains and running through backyards to extinguish flames. A key moment came when they stopped the fire at a garage on Morada Place.

“We were just protecting the houses that weren’t on fire at this point,” Matt said. “We would take turns and just run in everybody’s backyard and start putting out fires.”

Community Gratitude

The homeowners who still have their homes presented the Lievense brothers with an axe and James with a medal.

Neighbors say they will never forget what the Lievense family did.

“I thought our house was gone, and then we got a call, a video from Dan, and said yours was the last house I was able to save. It was just incredible,” said Diana Pullins.

Peter Halpin noted the experience brought the community closer.

“Normally you just kinda know the people closest to you, but everybody knows each other’s names now, and this little Lewis Avenue is going to come back strong.”

Dan and Matt’s mother, Linda Lievense, expressed her pride.

“I’m incredibly proud and grateful for these three,” she said.