Spencer Treat Clark‘s family home burnt down in the Eaton fire in Altadena, Calif.
“We have had so many friends and family reach out,” Clark tells Variety over the phone. “I’ve been in this town for 15 years and feel grateful for the friends I’ve made, and so we’re leaning on that big time right now.”
The actor, who has appeared in films like “Gladiator” (2000), “Glass” (2019) and “Salem’s Lot” (2024), had just spent Thursday morning rummaging through the remnants of his family’s house. While surveying what used to be home, he found a sake glass shaped like his dog, a gift he had received at a friend’s wedding. “It’s the only recognizable thing in our home.”
He cracks a joke about losing “the one T-shirt I own,” but sadness overtakes him as he recounts his other lost belongings. “My wife is a designer and architect, and she did all these amazing sketches, illustrations and letters from when we started dating,” he says. “I’m really sad about losing those.”
Clark has called Altadena home for the past few years. He first discovered it after shooting an episode of “Criminal Minds.” “I was so charmed by the community, and I thought, if I’m ever in a position to buy a house one day, I’d love to put up ground there.” He adds, “I feel like, if you work in this industry long enough, you’re bound to film in Altadena. It has this really unique charm that doesn’t quite feel like Los Angeles. It kind of feels like a little mountain town at times.”
He and his wife Abby found a fixer-upper and tackled most of the renovations themselves, relying only on plumbers to install the essential pipes and plumbing fixtures. Clark speaks proudly about the DIY skills he acquired throughout the process. “All the drywalling, painting, fixing, the siding and all that stuff was stuff we did ourselves. We were really proud of it. We still are.”
Clark evacuated around midnight on Tuesday, Jan. 7. He recalls that, earlier that day, a tree had fallen on Mariposa Street. “Even the wind felt very apocalyptic. When the fire started, it happened really quickly. I came back at 11 a.m. the next day because we were hearing some reports that there were fires in our neighborhood. I just never expected our house to be affected. I came back because I was starting to get a little nervous.”
Clark, his wife and their 1-year-old baby are safe and staying with family in Highland Park, a neighborhood located in Los Angeles’ Northeast region. When asked whether he, a New York native, would ever consider moving back home to the East Coast after this experience, he replies, “I love Los Angeles. … The fires aren’t going to deter us. This is home and this is where our family is. If we ever move back to the East Coast, it won’t be because of that.”
