Bruce and Nancy Steele had a business that produced honey for the past 30 years before the Eaton fire destroyed it
Bruce Steele has always said he would die defending his house – and his beehives. Long before the Eaton fire began its destructive march through the California foothills last month, the beekeeper was already on perpetual alert: watering the flower garden of his family’s house in Altadena, California, cleaning dry leaves out of the roof gutters and soaking the precious oak trees that surrounded the property.
When the Santa Ana winds picked up, Nancy, Bruce’s wife and business partner, was out of town, so their daughter, Clara, 35, rushed over to help. The two generations immediately started gathering family photos and mementoes. They scooped up a painting Bruce’s sister made as a wedding gift. Other treasures included an old robot toy from the 1965 TV show Lost in Space, as well as a threadbare T-shirt from Occidental College, the school where Bruce and Nancy first met – and where he would go on to work for more than 35 years.
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