EL CAJON, Calif. — The Cedar Fire devastated the community of Crest and 20 years later many say it's a memory that they often don't like to talk about.
But the Halte Family found it cathartic to talk about their loss and what they gained since that life-changing fire.
“We didn't really comprehend that we were in the line of fire at that time,” said Barbara Halte.
As she spoke to CBS 8 from her kitchen, she was watching a home video that her son took while walking up Mountain View Road the day after the Cedar Fire.
The video was so surreal it took the family back to October 26, 2003.
“I can smell the smoke,” said Catherine Clinger.
They can still see the images of terrified families trying to evacuate.
“It was just a parade going down that hill of people,” said Done Halte.
Despite his dementia and being in hospice, 84-year-old Don Halte, vividly remembers the moment he saw what the fire did to his house.
“We drive around the bush and park, and I get out and look and I'm just seeing space. Where there once was a house was space. Wow!” said Halte.
His daughter, Catherine Clinger, and her husband just moved in next door to her parents four months prior to the fire. She was both pregnant and had a toddler.
“The home I grew up in was gone and that was difficult,” said Clinger.
Both of their homes were a pile of ash.
“No birds, no chirping, just silence,” said Halte. “I'm watching the freeway. Everyone is going somewhere with some place to go. I had no place to go,” said Halte.
Going to the store was painful for Don and his family.
“Then to walk through a store, ‘oh I used to have this, I used to have that,” said Halte.
But when he described hugging a guy in the store, you could hear how it helped comfort the pain.
“I’d stand in a store. I'd look at a guy, he'd look at me. I knew what was in his eyes,” said Halte.
He and Barbara had gone through this before. They lost their home in the 1970 Laguna Fire that destroyed more than 300 homes.
“We have the ashes of two houses that are buried in our backyard,” said Halte.
But rebuilding after the Cedar Fire was a lot harder. Halte traveled to Sacramento to lobby against insurance companies so he and his neighbors could get more money to rebuild their homes.
“We got to know a lot of the people on the hill that we didn't know before and work with them in the rebuilding process,” said Barbara Halte.
It took both families almost two years to rebuild.
“We had a lot of support, a lot of community support, a lot of family support, a lot of friend support,” said Clinger.
The Cedar Fire remains one of the deadliest and most destructive fires in California history.
“Day by day you move forward. One step at a time,” said Barbara Halte.
Even after rebuilding, it took years for families to start healing.
“When the kids started school, I didn't keep their school stuff for a while. It took me a while to convince myself to hold on to some of their stuff because I kept thinking I'm going to lose it anyways,” said Clinger.
But two decades later, as they hold on to these memories, the loss of their belongings and home is still painful but the foundation for their family is still there.
“You remind yourself that we are still here, we still have each other and that's what matters,” said Clinger.
The Crest Fire burned more than 270,000 acres in San Diego County. Fifteen people were killed including a firefighter and injuring more than 100 people. More than two thousand homes were destroyed, including 290 in Crest.
The Cedar Fire was started by a lost hunter to signal help in the Cleveland National Park. He was sentenced to probation.
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