[Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] The aftermath of a fast- moving blaze that took out two dozen homes in a single night. This is drone video captured by a local resident as the flames came barreling down a canyon and then igniting a multitude of houses. It came really fast, didn't it?
[Keith Newberry, Home Was Destroyed By Fire:] Yeah. Extremely fast. I mean I can't believe the storm and a fire creates.
[Simon:] One of the houses belonged to Keith Newberry.
[Newberry:] I came my home was over there.
[Simon:] The 44-year-old returning to the house he lived in with his wife and three children. [on camera]: Is there anything you were able to save?
[Newberry:] I mean, we saved our pictures and took our computer tower because it has all of our important stuff on it. The rest of it is replaceable.
[Simon:] He became emotional thinking about his youngest daughter. A nine-year-old.
[Newberry:] She was in a swimsuit. We're not the only ones. It is happening for years and years and years. Be strong and rebuild.
[Simon:] At least 3,000 acres were charred along with the two dozen homes that were destroyed. A wall of fire coming over a canyon and into the subdivision with flying embers landing in all directions.
[Carmyn Riggens, Neighbor:] The flames were just, they looked evil. They were it was scary. It is scariest thing I have ever seen.
[Steve Clive, Neighbor:] As we were grabbing stuff, some guy kind of...
[Unidentified Female:] A fireman
[Clive:] Yeah. He came into the house, announced, no door bell, no nothing. He just opened the door and said get out, get out. There were houses on the back side, they are on fire. Just go. And so we just went.
[Simon:] Fire crews' rapid response undoubtedly saved both lives and property. A lot of time we focus on the structures lost. But agencies locally, many structures that were actually saved out there.
[Nathan Rabo, Fire Incident Commander:] We focus on structures loss. We are all certain there is works to the crews and agencies here locally. There is a mini-structures that are actually saved out there.
[Simon:] Authorities are optimistic they're getting a handle on the blaze, but Washington like much of the West Coast is also in the middle of a severe drought. So there's a fear this could be a long wildfire season and crews are concerned that Fourth of July fireworks could trigger more devastation. As for Keith...
[Newberry:] It is surreal. Sad. Lost some important memories. But a chance to rebuild.
[Simon:] And he wants to rebuild in the same spot.
[Newberry:] We'll be sitting on the back patio and barbecuing and have the house the way we wanted it. It will be fine.
[Cooper:] It's just heartbreaking. Dan Simon joins us now. What are the conditions like there right now? I mean I know yesterday it was 100 degrees. Not even in the fire zone.
[Simon:] Triple digit temperatures again, Anderson. So, it's a very difficult day for firefighters. We are in the Broadview subdivision, specifically on Maiden Lane and the devastation is just unbelievable. About eight or nine homes just on this one block. It looks the same across the street. Now, in terms of where we are right now, officially they're saying it's a ten percent containment. But it appears at the moment there is no active flames. So, authorities are optimistic that they're getting the upper hand on this fire, but we do have to talk about the drought. Washington State like much of the West Coast is experiencing a severe drought. So there is a lot of concern. Especially with the Fourth of July holiday coming up that you'll have somebody shoot off a firework and start another wildfire. So authorities are hoping that people just use common sense. Anderson.
[Cooper:] Yeah, Dan Simon, I appreciate the report. Thank you. Joining me now, is John Dominguez whose home was destroyed in the wildfire. John, I understand you've just gotten back from vacation when you saw flames coming toward your home. What happened then?
[John Dominguez, House Burned To Ground In Wash. Wildfire:] Well, actually they were a ways away. I'm guessing at least three, four miles away in a town nearby called Monitor. And it isn't unusual for us to see brush fires. And they usually often snuff themselves out or the firemen are great at putting them out. But it seemed so far away and so unlikely to affect us at the time.
[Cooper:] How quickly did it actually get close?
[Dominguez:] It came really kind of all at once. It was, I guess about eight, shortly before that we weren't on any level. And then a policeman came through and said that we are on level one, which basically means pack everything up. You might need to get out of here. And I guess we're estimating like 15, 20 minutes later, my wife came through the house kind of screaming at me to get out. I was packing some of the things that any of us might pack if we get into this kind of a situation. By the time I pulled the car out of our garage, there was a fire ball behind my neighbor's house.
[Cooper:] Wow. That's incredible!
[Dominguez:] Maybe it's 150 feet away from here. Oh, yeah, and it was more real when I saw smoke, black smoke billowing up as though something had really caught fire. And at that point, my wife was still trying to train some hoses on the house. And her brother who lives with us was trying to get some things out. And then I turned to screaming at them. We've got to get out of here! And I screamed a couple of times, honked the horn and we got in and we got out.
[Cooper:] And do you have pets? You were able to get them?
[Dominguez:] Yeah. We have four pets. One of the cats, which was outside my wife kept calling and we basically decided we have to leave that cat which would have killed my wife. It showed up at the back door in the last moment.
[Cooper:] Wow.
[Dominguez:] Really the last moment.
[Cooper:] That's amazing. I mean I hate to ask this question. Have you seen your house? Is there anything left of it?
[Dominguez:] You know, you can't come back into the neighborhood ones something like this happens. They keep you out. But the next morning we could come back and it was, you know, smoldering. A smoky scene. It looked like any of a hundred pictures I've seen of World War II aftermath.
[Cooper:] And we're looking at actually the pictures of your house right now. I mean, it's just- god, it's just unthinkable. How do you this is a dumb question. How do you deal with something like this?
[Dominguez:] I guess we're kind of in a stumble mode. We just kind of do things. When you lose all that you've accumulated, there is not a lot to do except eat and then talk about the things that you need. I couldn't go to work and that was really strange. I've missed one day of work in my whole life.
[Cooper:] John, Iisten, I wish you the best and your family the best. And I just, I hope things work out for you quickly. Thank you so much for being with us.
[Dominguez:] Oh, yeah, thank you.
[Cooper:] So sad. We'll be right back.