George Powell knows it sounds cliche, but says it was in fact love at first sight for him and his wife, Lynne. The two met in December 1983 and were married by February."She was so incredibly special to me," he said. "She was my love."Last week, Lynne was killed by one of the wildfires in northern California. Powell said smoke started infiltrating their Santa Rosa home at 1 a.m. on Monday."I woke up and I looked out the front window and there was a wall of flames," said Powell. "It was just the most frightening thing you could possibly ever imagine. So I said, 'Lynne, get up. Let's go.'"He rushed Lynne out the door to a car with one of their dogs while he rounded up the other three. It appears Lynne, blinded by fire and smoke, drove off the side of the road.Powell took that same road just 15 minutes later."I had no idea," he said. "If I had known that she'd gone over the side, I would have gone over there with her. I can't even describe how much I was shaking and crying and just not able to control myself at all."The two lived in New Mexico for most of their marriage. Lynne had been the principal flutist for the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra -- now known as the Philharmonic -- for 17 years. She also taught music to countless students.People who knew the couple say they were inseparable. Anne Eisfeller, who used to play in the orchestra with Lynne, remembers when Lynne first met Powell."Announced to us that she had met this really great man and she was just very bubbly about it," she said. Powell said the same fire that took Lynne's life also consumed their home and everything in it.