Complex sentence: According to a story told within the family, McCay made his first drawing in the aftermath of one of the many fires that hit Spring Lake: he picked up a nail and etched the scene of the fire in the frost of a windowpane.
Split into simpler sentences: According to a story told within the family, McCay made his first drawing in the aftermath of one of the many fires that hit Spring Lake. It was said that he picked up a nail and etched the scene of the fire in the frost of a windowpane.