The wildfire season in Washington was ferocious, leveling an entire town, burning hundreds of homes and thousands of acres, and taking one life.
A 22-month-old boy died in the Cold Springs fire in Okanogan County. Now parents Jacob and Jamie Hyland of Renton are telling their story.
It starts peacefully. After visiting friends in Spokane, they went to their family property near Omak. It was September 6 and it was a beautiful day.
"I saw five shooting stars that night," Jacob Hyland said. "It was gorgeous."
That peace turned to panic when Jacob Hyland woke in the night and saw the hills orange with fire, smoke and ash in the air.
"I scream as loud as I can, 'Jamie, Jamie, get up!' Jacob Hyland said. "It's time to get up. We gotta go."
"You said, 'the hill is ablaze' and I get up and it's just orange smoke," Jamie Hyland said. The Cold Springs wildfire had its first spark at 9:45 that night, after the Hylands had settled in. Fueled by strong winds, it exploded in size, tearing through sage brush at a devastating speed.