A devastated family in Washington state lost their home to a wildfire days before all seven members tested positive for coronavirus.
The Graham family from Malden, around 37 miles south of Spokane, saw their home destroyed by the Babb Road on Labor day which wiped out most of the town.
They had driven to a relative's home on the day of the fire, but by the time they had heard the news of the mandatory evacuation for Malden, it was too late to save any of their belongings.
In addition to their home, their barn was also destroyed, along with all their belongings that they hadn't taken with them when the left earlier that day.
'It's just surreal like being in a bad dream and you're like this can't be real,' said Jessica Graham to Q13 FOX. 'I was more in shock than I would have imagined, I felt numb a lot for the first few days.
The Graham family suffered a run of extremely bad luck starting on Labor day after their home burned down in the Babb Road fire. Days later, the whole family tested positive for coronavirus. They are currently quarantining in a hotel
The Graham family's Malden home, barn and all their belongings were completely destroyed as the Babb Road fire ripped through the town. It started on Labor day and most of the town was wiped out
The parents said one of the hardest parts of their ordeal was telling their children they no longer have a home, noting that one of their daughters had a particularly difficult time processing the news.
'How does somebody deal with not having home anymore? That has probably been the hardest thing thus far just seeing my kid in that much pain and not being able to do anything about it really,' said Jessica's husband Matthew.
Days later, after staying with relatives following the loss of their home, all seven members - the parents and five children - tested positive for Covid-19.
'Before our house burned down we were being really cautious about not being in groups of people and always having the kids in face masks and keeping our distance from everyone,' Matthew Graham said.
Jessica said her family's need for support after losing their home had caused them to let their guard down when it came to taking coronavirus precautions.
'I feel like you really just crave being around other people because that's really all you have left at that point you've lost everything,' she said.
The family said that before their home burned down, they had been carefully following coronavirus measures. But the fire forced them to stay with relatives, where they believe all seven of their family members came down with coronavirus
Fortunately for the family, the five children only came down with mild symptoms of the virus - but Jessica and Matthew felt the effects much harder.
'It's just like hitting a brick wall with this overwhelming exhaustion,' Jessica Graham told the news station.
'I'm not feeling that great right now but I can sit up all day, which is a huge improvement because before I couldn't hold my head up for that long because I was just so exhausted,' Matthew Graham said.
Pictured: Matthew and Jessica Graham's son stands infront of their burned-down home wearing a face mask. The family's five children were spared severe symptoms of the virus
Jessica said her family's need for support after losing their home had caused them to let their guard down when it came to taking coronavirus precautions
Father Matthew said that the family was fortunate that the situation was only temporary, saying that they were thankful to have fire insurance. A GoFundMe page has also been set up for the family that has raised over $18,000 to help them get back on their feet
The family are currently quarantining for a second week in a row in a hotel room waiting for their symptoms to subside.
'I'm not sure if it's going to get any worse at this point really nothing would surprise me,' said Matthew. 'This will be a year that we look back on and we'll all probably be vastly stronger people for it.'
He added that their situation is only temporary, and that the family feels extremely fortunate to have fire insurance. They plan to start house hunting once they have recovered from the coronavirus.
Wildfires have devastated the West Coast this year, with millions of acres being destroyed. Pictured: A firefighter works to put out the flames of a wildfire in California
A GoFundMe page has also been started for the family that has so far raised over $18,000 - well over their target of $10,000 - that will go towards replacing the belongings that were lost in the fire and for basic day-to-day supplies.
'At least for us, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and I've explained to the kids they should be grateful because there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we just need to get there and not everybody has a light at the end of their tunnel,' said Matthew.
An update posted on September 11 by KHQ, a few days after Labor day, said that the Babb Road Fire that destroyed the town of Malden was burning nearly 17,000 acres and had destroyed 189 buildings.
