Nicholas K. Geranios
The Cold Springs wildfire is seen burning in northeastern Washington state in Okanogan and Douglas counties, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED
September 10, 2020 - 9:00 AM
SPOKANE, Wash. - A 1-year-old boy has died after his family was apparently overrun by flames while trying to flee a giant wildfire burning in northeastern Washington state, Okanogan County Sheriff Tony Hawley said Wednesday.
The child’s injured parents were discovered Wednesday morning in the area of the Cold Springs Fire, which is burning in Okanogan and Douglas counties, Hawley said.
The sheriff’s office received a report of a missing family on Tuesday, and found the family’s wrecked and burned vehicle that day, but no sign of the three family members.
"The family was attempting to leave their property to get away from the Cold Springs Fire,″ Hawley said in a press release.
Searchers on Wednesday morning discovered the three family members along the banks of the Columbia River, Hawley said. The boy was already dead, he said.
All three were badly burned and were transported by boat by workers for the Colville Tribe to Bridgeport State Park. An ambulance then took them to a hospital in Brewster, Hawley said.
Parents Jacob Hyland, 31, and Jamie Hyland, 26, both of Renton, Washington, were flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment of third-degree burns, Hawley said. The hospital listed them in critical condition.
Okanogan County sheriff’s detectives and Colville Tribal Police detectives are investigating the child’s death, Hawley said.
The Cold Springs Fire, along with the nearby Pearl Hill Fire, have burned a combined 136,379 hectares across several counties in the northeastern part of the state. There is zero containment on the Cold Springs Fire.
Also burning in eastern Washington is a 40,468 hectare wildfire near the town of Davenport. That fire is 5% contained.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020