Residents of Steiner Ranch, a sprawling upscale development s that overlooks Lake Travis, returned to their homes Tuesday after being chased out two days earlier by a sudden and stubborn wildfire.

“The fire is 45 percent contained, but it's going to be another three or four days before its out. We're going to babysit this thing like a bad child,” said Jim Linardos, chief of the Lake Travis Fire Rescue.

The 4,600-acre planned community includes an18-hole golf course and 20 miles of hiking trails, as well as homes costing up to $3 million.

Twenty four homes were destroyed and another 30 were damaged before some 200 fire fighters were able to halt the blaze. It started near the lake and jumped across FM 620 to race into the subdivision, which has more than 4,000 houses and numerous apartment complexes. Five firemen were injured, but none seriously, said the chief.

Gov. Rick Perry and other state officials visited the scene Tuesday.

Among the unfortunate were Kevin and Katherine Stein, whose home on Wharton Court was reduced to a pile of charred brick. The family had just moved into the neighborhood in June.

“My wife and I and our daughter had left home Sunday afternoon to go see her mom and hang out. We just happened to be watching the news and saw that Steiner Ranch was hit and had a mandatory evacuation,” said Kevin Stein.

When the family finally got back in, there was nothing to save.

“Seeing this makes me happy we were not at home. My whole life is burned up except for the important parts,” he said.

Since returning, the family has been overwhelmed with offers of help from neighbors.

“People are willing to do anything. That's harder to deal with than the loss of our home,” Stein said.

At a nearby shopping center within the development, volunteers were busy handing out food and supplies to homeowners, many of whom are still without gas and electricity.

“Ice, water, Gatorade and trashbags seem to be the biggest needs,” said Julie Washington, 33, children's minister for the Austin Christian Fellowship, which organized the relief station.

“We've been collecting donations since the fire broke out, and we'll be here as long as we're needed,” she said.

Jimmy Crain, 50, who arrived at the station looking for something cold to drink, said his hilltop home narrowly missed burning.

“We're right where the fire was stopped. Our neighbors' homes were destroyed,” he said.

The Crains came to Austin six years ago after another natural disaster. “We're here because our home in New Orleans was destroyed by Katrina. I don't know if we could do this twice,” he said.

Despite the hilly, heavily wooded terrain, and the convoluted streets in Steiner Ranch that made access difficult, the loss could have been far greater, said Chief Linardos.

“The fire ran into the subdivision in a multi-head pattern and created a hot of havoc,” he said.

“We believe we saved 300 homes directly, and the loss could have been 1,000 if we hadn't gotten the resource. If we don't start managing the fuel better, we'll have a lot more of these,” he said of the thick brush.