Like other families who lost homes in last year's October wildfires, the Jaureguis of Escondido were asked to compile a list of items they needed.

It was no ordinary list.

About 40 dressers. More than two dozen beds. Clothes for 34 people.

The extended family lived in seven houses on 280 acres near Lake Wohlford, technically within the city of Escondido but seamlessly linked with the sprawling hills and open spaces of neighboring Valley Center. Five of their homes burned, not counting a sixth house under construction.

Some family members have moved in with relatives around the county, and others crammed into the two remaining houses on the property.

Linda Jauregui, 39, who married into the family in 1988, has moved from the property with her husband, Jim Jauregui, 42, and their seven children. But like the other family members, they said they plan to rebuild after their site is cleared.

For the longest time, Linda couldn't bring herself to visit the property and see the charred remains of her home. Living atop a hill with a 360-degree view that reached the Pacific on some days, the young family had a city just within reach while surrounded by a quiet, challenging countryside right out of a Western movie.

She finally returned in December to see what was left of the 3,700-square-foot manufactured home, which had been customized with a foundation and steps made from stones found on the hillsides.

The 6 1/2 bedrooms were identified by rusted springs that once had been beds. The four bathrooms were undistinguishable in the rubble. A rusted box that once was a microwave revealed the kitchen, and the shell of a washing machine sat were once was the laundry room.

The fire left the children's swing set standing, although the rubber seats are a melted, gnarled mess of grotesque shapes.

A handful of dirty pennies, perhaps the only thing they'll ever salvage, sat clustered inside what once may have been a tin lid. Two fireproof safes didn't live up to their name and melted. Linda and Jim have heard the government will replace burned money, so they mailed charred bills with visible serial numbers to the U.S. Mint and are hoping for the best.

"I keep waiting to break down," Linda said while visiting the site recently. "I won't let myself cry about it. It's just rubble. I have to be strong for the kids."

A home in the hills

Pete and Ruth Jauregui were in their early 30s and parents of seven children ages 1 to 14 when they decided to move from Santa Ana to a place where they could raise a family in open space and keep animals. Pete had bought 40 acres in eastern Escondido in 1962, and in 1970 he bought 40 more between Lake Wohlford and the Wild Animal Park, next to property owned by his sister, Barbara, who also lived on the land.

"He had bought this land, and she said, 'Let's go out and live in the country,'" Linda said about her in-laws. "They built what was supposed to be a barn, and they never moved out of it. They just turned the barn into the house."

The original homestead was the 40 acres between Lake Wohlford and the Wild Animal Park. The couple added rooms to their home to accommodate their children, Pete Jr., Mary, Tony, Ruthann, Matt, Jim and Nick. Two more children, Luke and Elizabeth, were born on their ranch.

The family got its water from a stream before finally getting a well in 1972, and they lived without electricity until 1982.

Pete brought cattle to the land, planted avocado trees and bought more acres. His sons grew up and started a construction business for commercial development, building many gas stations in the county.

Ruthann built a manufactured home on her family's property, but it burned down after a fire started in her laundry room 16 years ago. She rebuilt, but that house burned down a year later, and she now lives in Washington state.

Nick became a doctor and opened Culture of Life Family Services in Escondido before moving to Monrovia. Luke became a Catholic priest, and Tony moved to Palm Springs.

Those who stayed

Pete and Ruth's youngest daughter, Elizabeth, 29, still lives at home with her parents.

Daughter Mary married John Culver, and the couple built a home on the family property and raised nine children, including seven still at home. Their son John Jr. and his wife, Crystal, also built a home on the family property, where they were raising three children.

Matt built another home on the property, where he, his wife, Valerie, and their three children lived.

Jim built a home on the property and was raising seven children with Linda.

Pete Jr. also had a house on the property, where he and his wife, Donna, had raised 15 children, including 11 still at home. Their daughter Jessica married Derek Perkins, and the young couple had moved into another house on the family property.

Meet the family

In 1985, Linda was a high school senior working a summer job at the Del Mar Fair, where she wore a strawberry costume to promote produce. She met Jim Jauregui at the fair while wearing the costume, and for the longest time his family called her "Strawberry."

The couple married three years later and moved to Flagstaff, Ariz., where Jim attended Northern Arizona University, and then returned to the Jauregui property in 1991.

"We started out in a little tiny trailer," Linda said. "It was a great place for us to get a start. We actually lived a full year without utilities, without electricity. It was a pain."

The couple got power after a year and eventually moved into their large home.

Within sight of Jim and Linda's home, Matt and Valerie Jauregui were building a new house that shared their spectacular view. The new house was within two months of being completed and was not yet insured for fire. They also had not insured their other house because they always considered it a temporary home, although they had lived there 15 years.

Besides, fire scares had become almost as routine as a school fire drill. Twice the families had evacuated their homes and returned safely later to find everything intact.

When word came to evacuate the morning of Oct. 23, some family members didn't give much thought about what to save. Valerie asked her daughter Rose whether she wanted to take her favorite American Girl doll.

"No," Rose said. "It'll be here when we get back."

The inferno

Flames fanned by a fierce Santa Ana wind could be seen from the Jauregui property on the evening of Oct. 21. Some family members stayed up on fire watch, and by 2 a.m. the glow from the San Pasqual area was menacing.

Linda said she remembered hearing it was a good idea to videotape personal property for insurance reasons, so she went from room to room with her camera. The couple gathered some clothes and piled them into Jim's work truck, and Linda left with their children for her mother's home in Solana Beach.

The men in the family stayed back to protect their homes while their wives left with the children.

Pete Jr. tried to save his home with help from his brother Matt and son-in-law Derek Perkins, but the flames forced them to take cover behind a steel shed. When the wind finally died down, they stood up and found the house had been destroyed.

That house was on the same ridge as the homes of Matt and Valerie, Derek and Jessica Perkins, and John Jr. and Crystal. The wind-fueled flames reached the houses before the men could make a move to save them.

As his brothers fought one fire in the predawn hours, Jim drove down the hill to retrieve a water truck the family had bought for just such emergencies, but it had burned by the time he arrived. He then raced back up the hill to save his home with Matt, who hoped to save his own home, which was under construction on the same ridge.

The men later described a wind so hot and strong it seemed to be raining fire. Unable to safely step outside, they parked the truck behind Matt's house and waited for the wind to die down. At the first break they drove the short distance to Jim's home, only to look back to see Matt and Valerie's new home engulfed in flames.

The fire had reached Jim and Linda's house by then, and with water lines melted, the men attempted to bail the outdoor spa to fight the flames.

Jim climbed on the roof, felt it buckling below his feet, and realized the inside of his home was burning. Remembering that two of his cats and two of his dogs were inside the house with Matt's pregnant dog, he leapt down and opened the front door. Thick black smoke erupted from inside, and Jim knew he was too late to save the animals. He shut the door and backed away as the flames consumed his home.

The dogs and cats were not the only animals at risk. For the past year, Jim and Linda had been raising goats in a pen just across the dirt road in front of their home. A wall of flame separated the men from the pen, and the men were helpless as the four trapped animals perished in the fire.

"He called me about 7 the next morning," Linda recalled. "He said, 'Well, we had a rough night.' I said, 'Is it all gone?' And he said, 'It's all gone.' I said, 'OK.'"

Family and friends

The Jauregui property had been home to five of Pete and Ruth's nine children, plus one son-in-law, three daughters-in law, 28 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

After the fire, the only houses standing were the original home of Pete and Ruth and the home of their daughter Mary and her husband, John Culver.

Matt, Valerie, their three children and John Jr., Crystal and their three children all moved into Mary and John's house.

Pete Jr. and Donna and 11 of their children moved into the 700-square-foot granny flat next to Pete and Ruth's house.

While the fire took a tremendous toll on the family, the Jaureguis have been overwhelmed by generosity. When word got out to her children's schools about their loss, Linda said her e-mail was flooded with offers of help. After hearing that his brother-in-law had only the clothes on his back after the fire, Valerie's brother Paul Nordberg spent $400 on clothes for Matt and on school supplies for their children.

Sean Feeneyi of Pacific Manufactured Homes in Vista donated two previously owned manufactured homes to the family. Matt and Valerie are living in one, and John and Crystal soon will move into the other one.

Jim and Linda are living in a rented house in Valley Center.

Perkins and Jessica, who is pregnant, have been given a mobile home from another donor outside the county.

Donna and Peter are living in the granny flat, but in two weeks will move into a 1,500-square-foot converted garage just off their property.

All the Jauregui family members who lost their homes plan to rebuild on their property.

Despite the many heartbreaks the fire brought, the family is thankful nobody was hurt or killed, and they are grateful for the small miracles that came from the tragedy.

Valerie's family lost several pets, but they were surprised to find one of their cats, looking very hungry, slinking near the debris of their former home.

The little black cat had been called Window Kitty because she liked to sit in the laundry room window, but she never had an actual name.

Valerie now calls her Charcoal.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com. Freelance writer Angela Geiser contributed to this story.