Arizona Wildfire : 19 specialist firefighters is killed in deadliest wildfire involving crews in 80 years
Nineteen members of an elite firefighting crew who were killed Sunday in an Arizona wildfire tried to protect themselves by deploying tent-like structures before they were overtaken, a state forestry spokesman says.
The lightning-sparked fire, which spread to at least 2,000 acres amid triple-digit temperatures, destroyed 200 homes and sent hundreds fleeing from Yarnell, a town of about 700 residents about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said the firefighters, whose names had not been released, were part of the city’s fire department.
It was the most firefighters killed battling a wildfire in the U.S. in decades.
"We're devastated," Fraijo said late Sunday. "We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet."
The fire killed all but one member of the Prescott-based Hotshot crew, which were known for battling the region’s worst fires, including two earlier this season.
Prescott firefighter and spokesman Wade Ward told the Prescott Daily Courier in an interview last week that the crews are highly trained individuals who work long hours in extreme conditions. The crews, which number roughly 100 in the U.S., often hike for miles into the wilderness with chainsaws and backpacks stuffed with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and raging fires.
State forestry spokesman Art Morrison told the Associated Press that the firefighters were forced to deploy their emergency fire shelters — tent-like structures meant to shield firefighters from flames and heat — when they were caught in the Yarnell-area fire on Sunday.
The Cronkite News Service had featured the group in a story practicing such deployment in a worst-case scenario drill.
"One of the last fail safe methods that a firefighter can do under those conditions is literally to dig as much as they can down and cover themselves with a protective -- kinda looks like a foil type -- fire-resistant material -- with the desire, the hope at least, is that the fire will burn over the top of them and they can survive it," Fraijo said Sunday.
"Under certain conditions there's usually only sometimes a 50 percent chance that they survive," he said. "It's an extreme measure that's taken under the absolute worst conditions."
Before the fire near Yarnell, the group — one of 13 Arizona Hotshot crews — had been profiled in local media last year as they prepared for the fire season and this year as they took on a blaze near Prescott earlier this month.
The Prescott-based crew last year had four rookies on its 22-member team, according to the Cronkite News Service report.
Fraijo told reporters during a news conference late Sunday that 22 firefighters were injured and 8 required hospitalization. He described the fire, which started after a lightning strike Friday, as a fast-moving blaze fueled by hot, dry conditions. Temperatures reached into the triple digits across the state Sunday with a similar forecast expected for Monday.
"This is as dark a day as I can remember," Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said in a statement. "It may be days or longer before an investigation reveals how this tragedy occurred, but the essence we already know in our hearts: fighting fires is dangerous work. The risk is well-known to the brave men and women who don their gear and do battle against forest and flame.
"When a tragedy like this strikes, all we can do is offer our eternal gratitude to the fallen, and prayers for the families and friends left behind. God bless them all."
President Obama, currently traveling in Africa, released a statement praising the firefighters as "heroes — highly-skilled professionals who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm's way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the "devastating" loss is a reminder of deadly risks firefighters take every day.
"Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," McCain said in a statement.
The National Fire Protection Association had previously listed the deadliest wildland fire involving firefighters as the 1994 Storm King Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colo., which killed 14 firefighters who were overtaken by a sudden explosion of flames.
U.S. wildfire disasters date back more than two centuries and include tragedies like the 1949 Mann Gulch fire near Helena, Mont., that killed 13, or the Rattlesnake blaze four years later that claimed 15 firefighters in Southern California.
Earlier Sunday, the fire prompted the evacuation of at least 50 homes in the Buckhorn, Model Creek and Double A Bar Ranch areas about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
The wildfire also forced the closure of about 15 miles of state Route 89, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced. The department did not have an estimate of how long the closure would last but advised drivers to use U.S. 93 or Interstate 17 as alternate routes.
The Yarnell Hill Fire prompted evacuations in the Model Creek, Buckhorn and Double A Bar Ranch areas about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix. The blaze also was within 200 yards of the Model Creek School.
Crews cleared brush and did other work around the evacuated homes to help guard against the fire.
On Sunday afternoon, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office called residents in the Peeples Valley area and in the town of Yarnell, telling them to evacuate.
Two hundred firefighters are now working at the fire, but an additional 130 firefighters and more water- and retardant-dropping helicopters and aircraft are on their way.
The Sheriff's Office said the Red Cross has opened a shelter at Yavapai College in Prescott.
In another Arizona fire, a 2-acre blaze that started at a motorcycle salvage yard and spread to a trailer park has destroyed five mobile homes in the Gila County community of Rye, located more than 130 miles east of Yarnell.
Gila County Health and Emergency Services Director Michael O'Driscoll said no one was injured in Rye.
The fire was ignited Saturday night at All Bikes Sales located off Highway 87. It spread to neighboring federal Forest Service land but was fully contained within 12 hours of its start.
The Red Cross says seven adults and two children were staying at a shelter set up for people who were evacuated.
The lightning-sparked fire, which spread to at least 2,000 acres amid triple-digit temperatures, destroyed 200 homes and sent hundreds fleeing from Yarnell, a town of about 700 residents about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said the firefighters, whose names had not been released, were part of the city’s fire department.
It was the most firefighters killed battling a wildfire in the U.S. in decades.
"We're devastated," Fraijo said late Sunday. "We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet."
The fire killed all but one member of the Prescott-based Hotshot crew, which were known for battling the region’s worst fires, including two earlier this season.
Prescott firefighter and spokesman Wade Ward told the Prescott Daily Courier in an interview last week that the crews are highly trained individuals who work long hours in extreme conditions. The crews, which number roughly 100 in the U.S., often hike for miles into the wilderness with chainsaws and backpacks stuffed with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and raging fires.
State forestry spokesman Art Morrison told the Associated Press that the firefighters were forced to deploy their emergency fire shelters — tent-like structures meant to shield firefighters from flames and heat — when they were caught in the Yarnell-area fire on Sunday.
The Cronkite News Service had featured the group in a story practicing such deployment in a worst-case scenario drill.
"One of the last fail safe methods that a firefighter can do under those conditions is literally to dig as much as they can down and cover themselves with a protective -- kinda looks like a foil type -- fire-resistant material -- with the desire, the hope at least, is that the fire will burn over the top of them and they can survive it," Fraijo said Sunday.
"Under certain conditions there's usually only sometimes a 50 percent chance that they survive," he said. "It's an extreme measure that's taken under the absolute worst conditions."
Before the fire near Yarnell, the group — one of 13 Arizona Hotshot crews — had been profiled in local media last year as they prepared for the fire season and this year as they took on a blaze near Prescott earlier this month.
The Prescott-based crew last year had four rookies on its 22-member team, according to the Cronkite News Service report.
Fraijo told reporters during a news conference late Sunday that 22 firefighters were injured and 8 required hospitalization. He described the fire, which started after a lightning strike Friday, as a fast-moving blaze fueled by hot, dry conditions. Temperatures reached into the triple digits across the state Sunday with a similar forecast expected for Monday.
"This is as dark a day as I can remember," Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said in a statement. "It may be days or longer before an investigation reveals how this tragedy occurred, but the essence we already know in our hearts: fighting fires is dangerous work. The risk is well-known to the brave men and women who don their gear and do battle against forest and flame.
"When a tragedy like this strikes, all we can do is offer our eternal gratitude to the fallen, and prayers for the families and friends left behind. God bless them all."
President Obama, currently traveling in Africa, released a statement praising the firefighters as "heroes — highly-skilled professionals who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm's way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the "devastating" loss is a reminder of deadly risks firefighters take every day.
"Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," McCain said in a statement.
The National Fire Protection Association had previously listed the deadliest wildland fire involving firefighters as the 1994 Storm King Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colo., which killed 14 firefighters who were overtaken by a sudden explosion of flames.
U.S. wildfire disasters date back more than two centuries and include tragedies like the 1949 Mann Gulch fire near Helena, Mont., that killed 13, or the Rattlesnake blaze four years later that claimed 15 firefighters in Southern California.
Earlier Sunday, the fire prompted the evacuation of at least 50 homes in the Buckhorn, Model Creek and Double A Bar Ranch areas about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
The wildfire also forced the closure of about 15 miles of state Route 89, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced. The department did not have an estimate of how long the closure would last but advised drivers to use U.S. 93 or Interstate 17 as alternate routes.
The Yarnell Hill Fire prompted evacuations in the Model Creek, Buckhorn and Double A Bar Ranch areas about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix. The blaze also was within 200 yards of the Model Creek School.
Crews cleared brush and did other work around the evacuated homes to help guard against the fire.
On Sunday afternoon, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office called residents in the Peeples Valley area and in the town of Yarnell, telling them to evacuate.
Two hundred firefighters are now working at the fire, but an additional 130 firefighters and more water- and retardant-dropping helicopters and aircraft are on their way.
The Sheriff's Office said the Red Cross has opened a shelter at Yavapai College in Prescott.
In another Arizona fire, a 2-acre blaze that started at a motorcycle salvage yard and spread to a trailer park has destroyed five mobile homes in the Gila County community of Rye, located more than 130 miles east of Yarnell.
Gila County Health and Emergency Services Director Michael O'Driscoll said no one was injured in Rye.
The fire was ignited Saturday night at All Bikes Sales located off Highway 87. It spread to neighboring federal Forest Service land but was fully contained within 12 hours of its start.
The Red Cross says seven adults and two children were staying at a shelter set up for people who were evacuated.
Source : AP, SkyNews
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