The victims were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite crew hosted by the Prescott Fire Department. (cityofprescott.net)
Dean Smith watches as the Yarnell Hill Fire encroaches on his home in Glenn Ilah, Ariz. Sunday. (AP)
(AP)
A wildfire overtook and killed 19 elite firefighters in Arizona Sunday, the deadliest firefighter tragedy in the United States since 9/11.
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The tragedy happened in the town of Yarnell, which is located in the central part of the state, about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix. Gusty, hot winds blew the blaze out of control.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said the victims were all members of the city’s fire department, part of an elite crew called the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
“We’re an organization and a city that’s in grief,” Fraijo said in a late-night press conference. “Our entire fire department, our entire area, our entire state’s been devastated.
“We lost 19 of the finest people you’ll ever meet.”
Fraijo said only one member of the crew — who wasn’t at the scene of the fire — survived.
President Obama released a statement about the tragedy this morning, calling the firefighters “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.”
Gov. Jan Brewer said it could take some time before officials understand how the tragedy occurred.
“This is as dark a day as I can remember,” Brewer said in a statement.
Hotshot crews go through specialized training and are often deployed soon after a fire breaks out. Sometimes they hike for miles into the wilderness with chain saws and backpacks filled with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and fires. They remove brush, trees and anything that might burn in the direction of homes and cities. This crew had worked other wildfires in recent weeks in New Mexico and Arizona.
Forestry spokesman Art Morrison says the firefighters — battling the Yarnell Hill Fire, burning since Friday — were forced to deploy their fire shelters, tent-like structures meant to shield firefighters from flames and heat.
But the fire shelters weren’t enough.
“Something drastic happened,” Fraijo said.
“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.
“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.”
The fast-moving wildfire has destroyed about 200 homes, scorching more than 5,000 acres of land and forcing nearby residents to evacuate. The fire picked up momentum Sunday as the area experienced high temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions.
Hundreds of firefighters battled the fire Sunday, with additional crews, helicopters and aircraft sent to the scene. Federal crews are also helping to fight the fire.
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.
Following Sunday’s tragedy, a Facebook page was established to honor the victims. The page quickly received more than 110,000 ‘likes,’ with mourners leaving behind sentiments of sadness and support.
“Each new post about this tragedy breaks my heart all over again,” one commenter wrote.
With AP
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