A 1-year-old was killed and his parents were severely burned as they attempted to flee a Washington state wildfire this week, officials said Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, officials found the deceased child along with 31-year-old Jacob Hyland and 26-year-old Jamie Hyland of Renton, Washington, on the bank of the Columbia River in Okanogan County with third-degree burns.
According to officials, the young couple and their son abandoned the vehicle they had been traveling in as they attempted to escape the Cold Springs Fire, which erupted in the state on Sunday night.
A search began for the family after someone contacted the sheriff’s office on Tuesday afternoon, and a burned truck was later found without the family inside.
“It’s absolutely devastating and heartbreaking,” Okanogan County Sheriff Tony Hawley told the news outlet.
An investigation into the child’s death is ongoing, the sheriff said. Hawley said the boy’s death is being probed as a homicide to see whether the fire was “human-caused.”
Hyland’s family said in a statement that the child’s father needs surgery on his arms as a result of his injuries.
“Jamie has more burns on her body, and we are waiting on the scans for her. Her burns mostly consist of her upper body. Her arms already had the surgery they will be doing on Jake to help relieve the tension from the burns,” they added.
“They are both still critical at this point, but Jamie is more so than Jake. Jamie’s body is at 30-40 percent burned as of now, and Jake is at 15 percent. From what they know now.”
Authorities said Wednesday that more acres burned in Washington in a single day than firefighters usually see all year. The Cold Springs Fire and the nearby Pearl Hill Fire have burned at least 337,000 acres across several counties.
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