Nineteen elite firefighters were killed when hot winds blew a US wildfire out of control – the deadliest wildfire involving firefighters for at least 30 years.
The specially trained “hotshot” crew members were forced to deploy their fire shelters – tent-like structures meant to shield them from flames and heat – when they were caught near an Arizona town, state forestry spokesman Art Morrison told the Associated Press.
Dry grass near the communities of Yarnell and Glen Isla fed the fast-moving blaze, which was whipped up by the wind, Mr Morrison said. Around 200 homes were destroyed.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said the firefighters were part of the city’s fire department.
“We’re devastated,” he told a news conference. “We just lost 19 of the finest people you’ll ever meet.”
Hot shot crews are elite firefighters who often hike long distances into the wilderness with chainsaws and backpacks filled with heavy equipment to build lines of protection between people and blazes.
“By the time they got there, it was moving very quickly,” Mr Fraijo said of the blaze.
“One of the last failsafe 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,” he said.
“Under certain conditions, there’s usually only sometimes a 50% chance that they survive,” he said. “It’s an extreme measure that’s taken under the absolute worst conditions.”
The fire started after a lightning strike on Friday and spread to 2,000 acres (809 hectares) yesterday amid triple-digit temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. Officials ordered the evacuations of 50 homes in several communities, and later the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office expanded the order to include more residents in Yarnell.
The blaze was still burning late, with flames lighting up the night sky in the forest above Yarnell, a town of about 700 residents about 85 miles (135km) north-west of Phoenix. Most people had evacuated from the town, and no injuries or other deaths were reported.
“This is as dark a day as I can remember,” 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.”
Chuck Overmyer and his wife, Ninabill, said they lost their 1,800 sq ft (167.22 sq m) home in the blaze.
They were helping friends flee from the fire when the blaze changed direction and moved towards their property. They loaded up what belongings they could, including three dogs and a 1930 model hot rod on a trailer. As he looked out his rear view mirror he could see embers on the roof of his garage.
“We knew it was gone,” he said.
He later gathered at the Arrowhead Bar and Grill in nearby Congress along with locals and watched on TV as he saw the fire destroy his house.
“That was when we knew it was really gone,” he said.
He later fielded a phone call from a friend in which he said: “Lost it all, man. Yep, it’s all gone.”
About 200 firefighters are fighting the wildfire, which has also forced the closure of parts of state Route 89. An additional 130 firefighters and more water- and retardant-dropping helicopters and aircraft are on their way.
The National Fire Protection Association had previously listed the deadliest wildland fire involving firefighters as the 1994 Storm King Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, which killed 14 firefighters who were overtaken by a sudden explosion of flames.
US wildfire disasters date back more than two centuries and include tragedies like the 1949 Mann Gulch fire near Helena, Montana, which killed 13, and the Rattlesnake blaze four years later that claimed 15 firefighters in Southern California.