OKANOGAN COUNTY, Wash. — Two parents who lost their one-year-old son while fleeing the Cold Springs Fire are still fighting to survive and suffered another loss.
Citrus Heights native Jamie Hyland, 26, and Jacob Hyland, 31, were expecting a second child. The unborn child was lost as well.
Jacob's cousin, Jim Mabry, spoke to ABC10's Chris Thomas about the Hyland family found themselves in the path of the Cold Springs Fire.
Jamie moved to Washington from Citrus Heights in 2013. Jake inherited land from his grandfather in Eastern Washington.
The family was visiting the property when the fire started. They jumped into a truck to escape, then ended up on foot when they desperately tried to outrun the flames.
"They sheltered against a rock when the fire finally got them and poured water over their faces to try to minimize their burns,” Mabry said.
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Jamie's sister, Dawnmarie Baxter, spoke with KREM 2's Whitney Ward about her sister and brother-in-law's conditions, what led up to their rescue, and the heartbreaking death of their son, Uriel.
The Cold Springs Fire is burning more than 187,000 acres near Omak as of Friday. It sparked on Sunday night and is 25% contained. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Baxter said it started with an overnight Labor Day camping trip to some newly-inherited property in Okanogan County.
"He woke up to go to the bathroom at 1:30 in the morning and smelled smoke, and that's when they had to go," she said. "So they woke up, threw everything in the car. He grabbed a five-gallon bucket of water and they drove the truck. They drove 5 to 7 miles before they had to crash it. I think it might have been on purpose to get through a fence, to get to the water. They crashed the truck and then fled on foot. This is desolate wilderness and they had to go a mile to get to that water, winding up and down through the land, in the dark. The pitch dark."
Jaime suffered burned to 37% of her body, Baxter said.
Doctors believe Jamie will be intubated for the foreseeable future after they pulled some fluid from her lungs, according to the update. Most of Jamie's burns are to her upper body and she already had surgery on her arms.
"She suffered the worst," she said. "I'm wondering if she might have been leading them. either way, Jacob was being the strong, amazing husband that he was. He was carrying Uriel and the way they can tell from the burns, he's less burned because his whole body was a shield around this baby. "
Uriel died sometime between when the family evacuated and when they were all found on the banks of the Columbia River two days later. Sadly, so did Jamie's unborn baby. She was pregnant, just 14 weeks along.
"My sister, all she's ever wanted to be is a mom. She wants seven kids," she said with tears in her eyes. "And in my worst nightmare, I can't imagine fighting for my child's life and losing that battle, even though they fought with everything they had."
As of Thursday, Jacob was no longer intubated after passing his breathing test. He is stable and has been sedated to recover. A family member says Jacob is "doing very well."
Doctors plan to perform surgery on Jacob's arms on Friday. According to the update, he has four to eight surgeries ahead of him and will likely be in the intensive care unit for at least two weeks.
Baxter said the couple was active in their church community and in giving back to others. Now the community is stepping up in a huge way to give back to them, for their long road to recovery.
"She looks better than I thought she would," she said. "They're both very recognizable. I didn't think with the degree of burns they have, they're just warriors. They're fighters. They're going to fight for each other."
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for the couple thanks to a GoFundMe. As of Friday afternoon, over $185,000 had been raised on. The fundraiser's organizer, who is a family member, said 100% of donations will go to Jacob and Jamie.
"It's been overwhelming," Baxter said. "As unimaginable as this situation is, I can't say enough how thankful we are, to the world, it's gone international, and it's gone insanely and we're just so grateful to everyone that's given and all the prayers mean the world of difference."
How the couple was rescued
The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office received a call about the missing family at about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8. They were last known to be in the area of Cameron Lake Road and Paxton Canyon Road near Okanogan.
According to Sheriff Tony Hawley, a deputy learned that the family's vehicle was found burned and wrecked but unoccupied. The family was trying to leave their property to get away from the Cold Springs Fire, Hawley said.
Search-and-rescue crews found the couple and child along the bank of the Columbia River on Wednesday morning, according to Hawley. All three were burned and taken by boat to Bridgeport State Park.
An ambulance took the victims to Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster. The couple was later flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where they are in critical condition and receiving treatment for third-degree burns.
Uriel was deceased when search-and-rescue crews found the family. His death marks Washington's first casualty from the recent wildfires.
Authorities investigate child's death
Detectives with the sheriff's office and Colville Tribal Police Department are investigating the child's death. Hawley told KREM's Taylor Viydo that the child's death is technically being investigated as a homicide for now since the fire could have been human-caused.
"If it's a human-caused fire, that goes into criminal charges for the death investigation as well. This child would not be dead without this fire beginning," Hawley said.