Fanned by hot winds, a deadly blaze exploded out of control on Sunday in
Arizona, overtaking 19 firefighters, 18 of them from the same elite
Prescott, Ariz., Granite Mountain Hotshots team. NBC's Miguel Almaguer
reports.
Only a “perfect storm” of conditions could have overtaken the elite
team that lost 19 men battling a wildfire in Arizona, authorities said
Monday as they came to grips with the deadliest single event for
firefighters since Sept. 11.
The fire, raging on a hot and gusty
Sunday afternoon, took out all but one member of the Granite Mountain
Hotshots, a team known for its extensive training and demanding fitness
regimen.
The men were killed about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix,
near the town of Yarnell. It was the biggest loss of firefighter life
since 340 died at the World Trade Center. It was the worst in a wildfire
since 1933, when 29 were killed in Los Angeles.
“We don’t know exactly what happened,” Wade Ward, a spokesman for the
Prescott Fire Department, told NBC’s TODAY. “I can tell you that this
is a very elite group of men. I can tell you that it had to be the
perfect storm in order for this to happen.”
Related: Fire that killed 19 firefighters was ‘perfect storm’
Authorities
stressed that they were still investigating, but Mary Rasmussen, a
spokeswoman for Prescott National Forest, said it appeared the 19 were
engaged in a “direct attack” — getting close to the fire and trying to
create a break to starve it of fuel.
She described the maneuver as
“one foot in the black and one foot in the green,” and said it was only
done when the flames were 5 feet high or less: “They’re right up
against it.”
The conditions Sunday were extreme, with unusual
wind, she said, and authorities were checking what other factors might
have contributed.
Art Morrison, a state forestry spokesman, told
The Associated Press that the men had been forced to deploy emergency
fire shelters — tent-like structures meant to protect breathable air and
shield them from the heat.
Investigators believe the fire, which
started Friday, was sparked by lightning. It has claimed more than 200
buildings in Yarnell, a town of only about 700 people.
Excessive heat warnings were posted over the weekend in Arizona, and parts of California approached 130 degrees.
Hotshot
fire crews often hike into the wilderness lugging 40 or 50 pounds of
equipment, including chain saws and other heavy gear, to clear brush and
trees and anything else that might feed the flames.
The Granite Mountain crew had battled blazes in New Mexico and elsewhere in Arizona in recent weeks.
“If
you ever met them, you would meet the finest, most dedicated people,”
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said. “They’ll sleep out there as they
try to develop fire lines and put protection between homes and natural
resources and still try to remain safe.”
Juliann Ashcraft told AZCentral.com, the website of The Arizona
Republic and NBC affiliate KPNX, that she and her four children were
watching the news when they learned that her husband, Andrew, was among
the dead.
“They died heroes,” she said through tears. “And we’ll miss them. We love them.”
President
Barack Obama, in a statement, described the fallen men as “heroes,” and
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said it was “as dark a day as I can remember.”
Arizona Sen. John McCain said the men’s sacrifice would not be
forgotten.
About 200 firefighters were battling the blaze late Sunday, and 400
were being deployed Monday. Authorities planned a news conference later
Monday morning Arizona time.
Trudy Thompson Rice, a spokeswoman
for the Grand Canyon chapter of the American Red Cross, was at a shelter
at a high school where 15 evacuees from the fire were sleeping early
Monday. She said the evacuees knew some of the firefighters.
“You
don’t want to lose any firefighters, but when it’s your neighbors it
makes it particularly difficult,” she said. “They do hand-to-hand combat
with these fires, and it’s very difficult work.”
Chuck Overmyer
told The Associated Press that he and his wife, Ninabill, were helping
friends leave when the blaze switched directions and moved toward their
home. They loaded what they could, including three dogs and a 1930 model
hot rod, on a trailer.
As he looked out his rearview mirror, he could see embers on the roof of his garage.
“We knew it was gone,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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