COLVILLE, Wash. — The Crown Creek Fire continues to burn weeks after lightning sparked it in the mountains south of Northport. It burned both acres and homes.

One of those homes belonged to Diane Schmill of Onion Creek, who thought she wouldn't be gone for long as she evacuated her cabin as the Crown Creek Fire burned nearby.

"I had it in my mind that I would return in a few days," said Schmill.

But instead, the fire burned her home of nearly 40 years, taking with it everything she didn't pack.

"Just didn't feel real. After 38 years of living there, you know, wouldn't think of forest fire would come through and just burn everything up," said Schmill.

Schmill's daughter Deydra Schmill was the one to break the news to her mother.

"That was probably the hardest phone call I've had to ma

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