Bodies of 19 Firefighters Killed in Arizona Wildfire Recovered, Taken to Medical Examiner's Office
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The bodies of 19 elite firefighters overtaken by a raging wildfire in central Arizona were recovered and taken to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office today, Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said.
The Yarnell fire killed 19 of 20 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew, who ranged in age from 21 to 43 years old.
Complete List of Names of Firefighters Killed in Arizona Wildfire
Fraijo said the only member of the crew who was not killed by the inferno was on an assignment away from the incident. However he didn't know where the firefighter had been deployed.
"He feels terribly and we all feel terribly," Fraijo said at a news conference this afternoon. "Unfortunately, we have very few words to express that kind of sorrow."
When the 19 men battling the wildfire had no place to turn, authorities said they deployed tent-like safety shelters in one final chance at survival.
"They're a last resort," National Interagency Fire Center spokesman Ken Frederick told ABCNews.com today.
"That would be where you simply have no way to get to a safety zone and you realize to save your life, you're going to have to deploy the shelter," he said.
"Often, that kind of scenario means you just have very few moments left to get in your fire shelter. Nobody wants to get in one," Frederick said.
Authorities believe the wildfire began with a lightning strike Friday in Yarnell, Ariz., about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix, and spread to at least 2,000 acres Sunday amid triple-digit temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. By early today, the Yarnell fire had tripled in size and was 6,000 acres, according to Arizona incident commander Mike Reichling.
"I said last night that my heart was breaking. I can't even imagine how the friends and families feel," Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said at a news conference today. "It's unbearable for many of you, but it's is unbearable also for me.
"For now, we mourn. Consider this: The fire claimed more lives than any single disaster since 9/11," an emotional Brewer said. "Just as we remembered the brave men who ran into the twin towers, we will also remember the men of the Granite Mountain Hotshots."
Fire shelters became mandatory safety equipment in the 1970s and have been used ever since. The devices are made of fiberglass and aluminum that together create "basically a personal tent," Frederick said.
"During a fire entrapment, a firefighter can take it out if its case, flap it open and then crawl underneath it," he said. "What it does is reflect away radiant heat and trap cool, breathable air for the firefighter."
Firefighters are trained to be able to deploy the shelter in about 30 seconds, Frederick said, adding that they have saved hundreds of lives.
If at all possible, Frederick said, a firefighter would rather use an escape route to get to a safety zone than have to get out the fire shelter. He was a firefighter for 13 years in Washington and never even took out his fire shelter, much less deployed it.
Unfortunately, the shelters do have limitations. They cannot withstand prolonged extreme heat, which can cause the aluminum to delaminate from the fiberglass. A wind event similar to what officials believe may have occurred in Yarnell, combined with hot, dry and windy conditions, can be a worst-case scenario for even the most experienced firefighter.
"You base your actions on what the fire is doing and what you expect it to do, but if that changes rapidly and unexpectedly, that's the worst kind of situation for a firefighter," Frederick said.
The 19 deaths amounted to the greatest loss of life for firefighters in a wildfire since 1933 when the Griffith Park fire in southern California claimed the lives on 29 firefighters, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
It is also the deadliest day for U.S. firefighters since 9/11, when 340 died.
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PRESCOTT,
Ariz. (AP) - In a heartbreaking sight, a long line of vans from a
coroner's office carried the bodies of 19 elite firefighters out of the
tiny mountain town of Yarnell on Monday, as the wind-driven wildfire
that claimed the men's lives burned out of control.
About 200 more firefighters arrived to the scorching mountains, doubling the number of firefighters battling the blaze, ignited by lightning.
Many of them were wildfire specialists like the 19 fatally trapped Sunday – a group of firefighters known as Hotshots called to face the nation's fiercest wildfires.
With no way out, the Prescott-based crew did what they were trained to do: They unfurled their foil-lined, heat-resistant tarps and rushed to cover themselves. But that last, desperate line of defense couldn't save them.
The deaths of the Granite Mountain Hotshots marked the nation's biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years. Only one member of the 20-person crew survived, and that was because he was moving the unit's truck at the time.
Arizona's governor called it "as dark a day as I can remember" and ordered flags flown at half-staff.
"I know that it is unbearable for many of you, but it also is unbearable for me. I know the pain that everyone is trying to overcome and deal with today," said Gov. Jan Brewer, her voice catching several times as she addressed reporters and residents at Prescott High School in the town of 40,000.
President Barack Obama called Brewer on Monday from Africa and reinforced his commitment to providing necessary federal support to battle the fire that spread to 13 square miles after destroying 50 homes. More than 200 homes were threatened in the town of 700 people.
Obama also offered his administration's help to state officials investigating the tragedy, and predicted it will force government leaders to answer broader questions about how they handle increasingly destructive and deadly wildfires.
Brewer said the blaze "exploded into a firestorm" that overran the crew.
The blaze grew from 200 acres to about 2,000 in a matter of hours.
Southwest incident team leader Clay Templin said the crew and its commanders were following safety protocols, and it appears the fire's erratic nature simply overwhelmed them.
The Hotshot team had spent recent weeks fighting fires in New Mexico and Prescott before being called to Yarnell, entering the smoky wilderness over the weekend with backpacks, chainsaws and other heavy gear to remove brush and trees as a heat wave across the Southwest sent temperatures into the triple digits.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said he feared the worst when he received a call Sunday afternoon from someone assigned to the fire.
"All he said was, `We might have bad news. The entire Hotshot crew deployed their shelters,'" Fraijo said. "When we talk about deploying the shelters, that's an automatic fear, absolutely. That's a last-ditch effort to save yourself when you deploy your shelter."
Read More And Watch Video Here
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The bodies of 19 elite firefighters overtaken by a raging wildfire in central Arizona were recovered and taken to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office today, Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said.
The Yarnell fire killed 19 of 20 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew, who ranged in age from 21 to 43 years old.
Complete List of Names of Firefighters Killed in Arizona Wildfire
Fraijo said the only member of the crew who was not killed by the inferno was on an assignment away from the incident. However he didn't know where the firefighter had been deployed.
"He feels terribly and we all feel terribly," Fraijo said at a news conference this afternoon. "Unfortunately, we have very few words to express that kind of sorrow."
When the 19 men battling the wildfire had no place to turn, authorities said they deployed tent-like safety shelters in one final chance at survival.
"They're a last resort," National Interagency Fire Center spokesman Ken Frederick told ABCNews.com today.
"That would be where you simply have no way to get to a safety zone and you realize to save your life, you're going to have to deploy the shelter," he said.
"Often, that kind of scenario means you just have very few moments left to get in your fire shelter. Nobody wants to get in one," Frederick said.
Authorities believe the wildfire began with a lightning strike Friday in Yarnell, Ariz., about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix, and spread to at least 2,000 acres Sunday amid triple-digit temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. By early today, the Yarnell fire had tripled in size and was 6,000 acres, according to Arizona incident commander Mike Reichling.
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"I said last night that my heart was breaking. I can't even imagine how the friends and families feel," Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said at a news conference today. "It's unbearable for many of you, but it's is unbearable also for me.
"For now, we mourn. Consider this: The fire claimed more lives than any single disaster since 9/11," an emotional Brewer said. "Just as we remembered the brave men who ran into the twin towers, we will also remember the men of the Granite Mountain Hotshots."
Fire shelters became mandatory safety equipment in the 1970s and have been used ever since. The devices are made of fiberglass and aluminum that together create "basically a personal tent," Frederick said.
"During a fire entrapment, a firefighter can take it out if its case, flap it open and then crawl underneath it," he said. "What it does is reflect away radiant heat and trap cool, breathable air for the firefighter."
Firefighters are trained to be able to deploy the shelter in about 30 seconds, Frederick said, adding that they have saved hundreds of lives.
If at all possible, Frederick said, a firefighter would rather use an escape route to get to a safety zone than have to get out the fire shelter. He was a firefighter for 13 years in Washington and never even took out his fire shelter, much less deployed it.
Unfortunately, the shelters do have limitations. They cannot withstand prolonged extreme heat, which can cause the aluminum to delaminate from the fiberglass. A wind event similar to what officials believe may have occurred in Yarnell, combined with hot, dry and windy conditions, can be a worst-case scenario for even the most experienced firefighter.
"You base your actions on what the fire is doing and what you expect it to do, but if that changes rapidly and unexpectedly, that's the worst kind of situation for a firefighter," Frederick said.
The 19 deaths amounted to the greatest loss of life for firefighters in a wildfire since 1933 when the Griffith Park fire in southern California claimed the lives on 29 firefighters, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
It is also the deadliest day for U.S. firefighters since 9/11, when 340 died.
Read More Here
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....
Portable shelters couldn't save 19 firefighters
By Felicia Fonseca and Hannah Dreier, Associated Press
About 200 more firefighters arrived to the scorching mountains, doubling the number of firefighters battling the blaze, ignited by lightning.
Many of them were wildfire specialists like the 19 fatally trapped Sunday – a group of firefighters known as Hotshots called to face the nation's fiercest wildfires.
With no way out, the Prescott-based crew did what they were trained to do: They unfurled their foil-lined, heat-resistant tarps and rushed to cover themselves. But that last, desperate line of defense couldn't save them.
The deaths of the Granite Mountain Hotshots marked the nation's biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years. Only one member of the 20-person crew survived, and that was because he was moving the unit's truck at the time.
Arizona's governor called it "as dark a day as I can remember" and ordered flags flown at half-staff.
"I know that it is unbearable for many of you, but it also is unbearable for me. I know the pain that everyone is trying to overcome and deal with today," said Gov. Jan Brewer, her voice catching several times as she addressed reporters and residents at Prescott High School in the town of 40,000.
President Barack Obama called Brewer on Monday from Africa and reinforced his commitment to providing necessary federal support to battle the fire that spread to 13 square miles after destroying 50 homes. More than 200 homes were threatened in the town of 700 people.
Obama also offered his administration's help to state officials investigating the tragedy, and predicted it will force government leaders to answer broader questions about how they handle increasingly destructive and deadly wildfires.
Brewer said the blaze "exploded into a firestorm" that overran the crew.
The blaze grew from 200 acres to about 2,000 in a matter of hours.
Southwest incident team leader Clay Templin said the crew and its commanders were following safety protocols, and it appears the fire's erratic nature simply overwhelmed them.
The Hotshot team had spent recent weeks fighting fires in New Mexico and Prescott before being called to Yarnell, entering the smoky wilderness over the weekend with backpacks, chainsaws and other heavy gear to remove brush and trees as a heat wave across the Southwest sent temperatures into the triple digits.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said he feared the worst when he received a call Sunday afternoon from someone assigned to the fire.
"All he said was, `We might have bad news. The entire Hotshot crew deployed their shelters,'" Fraijo said. "When we talk about deploying the shelters, that's an automatic fear, absolutely. That's a last-ditch effort to save yourself when you deploy your shelter."
Read More And Watch Video Here
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