Forest Service firefighters were overcome by fire as they battled the 41,000-acre Esperanza fire, an arson fire that led to the conviction of a man on five counts of first-degree murder. In 1994, the Storm King Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colo., killed 14 firefighters who were overtaken by a sudden explosion of flames. The National Fire Protection Association website lists the last wildland fire to kill more firefighters as the 1933 Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles, which killed 29.Įighty-six firefighters were killed in the Devil's Bloom wildfire, which burned in Idaho in 1910. The fight Sunday against the 8,000-acre wildfire near the community of Yarnell ( map), about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, marks one of the deadliest days for firefighters involved in a wildland fire fight in decades. Jan Brewer said in a news conference Monday.īrewer signed a declaration of emergency to make more resources available to battle the blaze, including a grant requested to federal officials that would cover most of the cost. "To the friends and family of those lost yesterday, I know we can never fully repay the sacrifices made by your loved ones, but we can honor their service through our gratitude and prayers, and through our steadfast dedication to do whatever is necessary to bring this fire under control before it causes any more heartache," Arizona Gov. The fire remained at 0 percent containment Monday afternoon. Grass fire closes 118 Freeway in Granada Hills "Whatever may have happened there will be understood someday," Fraijo said of launching an investigation into the deaths of the firefighters. Two firefighters from Southern California were among those killed. Previous information indicated only 18 of the 19 victims were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots team, but Fraijo confirmed during a news conference Monday that all 19 were part of the Hotshots crew.Ī 20th member of the Hot Shots crew was serving as a lookout when the lightning-sparked fire overtook his colleagues. "We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet." "We're devastated," said Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo. The 19 victims were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots team, an elite firefighting crew deployed to help cut off the fire, according to fire officials. The bodies of some of the firefighters were found inside fire-resistant shields that usually are deployed as a last resort. Colleagues, friends and family members are mourning 19 members of an Arizona firefighting crew killed when they were overtaken Sunday by a 13-square-mile fire burning northeast of Phoenix in one of the deadliest days in decades for firefighters involved in a wildfire attack.
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