Official: 19 firefighters dead in Arizona Yarnell Hill fire - Prescott

[texasmom]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/30/us/arizona-missing-firefighters/

Official: 18 firefighters dead in Arizona
By Janet DiGiacomo, CNN
updated 11:26 PM EDT, Sun June 30, 2013

(CNN) -- Eighteen firefighters battling a blaze in Arizona who were unaccounted for Sunday night have been confirmed dead, said Wade Ward with the Prescott Fire Department.

All were members of that city's fire department. It was not immediately clear how they died.

Earlier, an official with the Arizona State Forestry Division had said that as many as 19 were still missing.

The crew was fighting the Yarnell Hill fire, which broke out Friday northwest of Phoenix. The fire has grown to 1,000 acres, damaged three homes and forced the evacuations of residents in the communities of Peeples Valley and Yarnell, forestry official Art Morrison said.

The blaze is believed to have been started by lightning.

Not including the 18 deaths reported in Arizona, there have been 43 firefighter fatalities reported so far in 2013, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. A total of 83 firefighters died last year while on duty.

 

[texasmom]

https://www.facebook.com/InMemoryOfPrescottFirefightersLost6302013

[texasmom]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57591707/18-firefighters-died-battling-arizona-wildfire/

 CBS/AP/ June 30, 2013, 10:52 PM

18 firefighters killed battling Arizona wildfire

YARNELL, Ariz. At least 18 firefighters were killed while battling the Yarnell Hill Fire in a central Arizona community, Prescott Fire Department officials confirmed.

CBS News affiliate KPHO reports that earlier Sunday, 19 firefighters battling a blaze in Yavapai County had not been heard from. Around 6 p.m. local time, authorities said they were unable to establish communications with them, although they had been seen from a helicopter.

The fast-moving fire had prompted evacuations of 50 homes in the Buckhorn, Model Creek and Double A Bar Ranch areas about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.

In the afternoon, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office expanded the evacuations to include residents in the Peeples Valley area and in the town of Yarnell.

The wildfire also forced the closure of parts of state Route 89, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced. The department did not have an estimate of how long the closure would last but advised drivers to use U.S. 93 or Interstate 17 as alternate routes.

The Red Cross has opened a shelter at Yavapai College in Prescott, the sheriff's office said.

The Yarnell Hill Fire now covers over 1,000 acres, officials confirmed

The fire started Friday but picked up momentum Sunday as the area experienced high temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions.

About two hundred firefighters are now working at the fire, but an additional 130 firefighters and more water- and retardant-dropping helicopters and aircraft are on their way.

 

[MuffyBee]

I had seen where there were 19 firefighters reported missing.  And then, just before I went to bed, I saw it was confirmed there were 18 firefighters confirmed dead.  I was laying in bed thinking about this, couldn't sleep and got back up.  It's been a very hard year for firefighters.  I have family members that are firefighters.  In my area, wildland fires are much more common than structure fires.  Thank you for starting this thread texasmom. 
My youngest son (who is a volunteer firefighter) attended the memorial for the firefighters that lost their lives in the West Explosion.  As he walked in the door after having attended the memorial, he said "Now I know what it really means to be a firefighter".  Prayers for the family and friends of those that have been injured and have died fighting the fires.   

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-arizona-firefighters-killed-20130630,0,7589629.story
Nineteen firefighters killed battling Arizona blaze
July 1, 2013

Nineteen firefighters were killed on Sunday battling a fast-moving wildfire in central Arizona that forced the evacuation of two small towns, fire officials said.
The firefighters perished in the so-called Yarnell Hill Fire, near the small town of Yarnell about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, the U.S. Wildland Fire Aviation service said in a Facebook post.

"It has been confirmed that 19 wildland firefighters have lost their lives on the Yarnell Hill fire Arizona," the post said, adding that the agency was asking "for prayers for the families and friends of these brave men and women."

The toll marks the worst firefighter loss of life since 1933, when a blaze in L.A.'s Griffith Park killed at least 25.

Art Morrison of the Arizona State Forestry Commission told CNN the firefighters, members of an elite "hot shot" team, lost their lives Sunday afternoon when they were overtaken by swiftly moving flames.

"It was a hand crew, a hot shot crew. In normal circumstances, when you're digging fire lines, you make sure you have a good escape route, and you have a safety zone set up. Evidently, their safety zone wasn't big enough, and the fire just overtook them. By the time the other firefighters got in, they didn't survive," Morrison said.

 Morrison said there are normally 20 firefighters in a “hot shot” unit, and couldn’t explain why there were 19 victims.

 “Hopefully they went out with one short,” an emotional Morrison said.  “I started as a firefighter in 1968, and I’ve never seen anything like this.

More...

Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wildlandfire.com/news.htm


http://www.inciweb.org/

[MuffyBee]

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20130630crews-fighting-small-fires-around-Arizona.html
19 firefighters dead in Yarnell Hill Fire
June 30, 2013

Arizona forestry officials confirmed Sunday night that 19 firefighters have died in the Yarnell Hill Fire that has ripped through half of the town, sent residents to Prescott for safety and given the state its worst wildfire firefighter tragedy.

“It’s a dark day,” said Mike Reichling, Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman.

Reichling said the 19 firefighters were found in an area that also had 19 fire shelters deployed. Some of the firefighters were inside a shelter, which is typically used as a last resort to withstand the fire as it blows over. Some of the crew members were found outside the shelters.
Officials said 18 of the dead were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots team. It’s unknown which fire crew the 19th firefighter belonged to. The firefighters are part of a team that is typically sent in first to help cut off the fire, Reichling said.
 More....

[MuffyBee]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-arizona-fire-chief-20130701,0,5270449.story
Fire chief 'devastated' by deaths of 19 Arizona firefighters
July 1, 2013


Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew
Members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew. (City of Prescott, Ariz. )

[MuffyBee]

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Ariz-fire-chief-Shelters-are-last-ditch-effort-4639903.php
Ariz. fire chief: Shelters are 'last-ditch effort'
July 1, 2013

[MuffyBee]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865582492/LDS-man-among-the-19-firefighters-killed-in-Arizona-fire.html
LDS man among the 19 firefighters killed in Arizona fire
July 1, 2013



Andrew Ashcraft, a member of the Prescott Arizona Stake of the LDS Church, was among 19 firefighters killed during a wind shift in the Yanell Hill Fire in Arizona. (Courtesy Ashcraft Family)


Andrew and Juliann Ashcraft and three of their four children. Andrew was among the 19 firefighters killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona. (Double Scoop Photography)

YARNELL, Ariz. — The fire that swept through Yarnell, Ariz., on Sunday claimed the life of Andrew Ashcraft of Prescott, Ariz., a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of 19 firefighters who died fighting the blaze.

Ashcraft was part of the 20-member "Granite Mountain Hotshot" crew, an elite group of firefighters who were tasked with digging the fire line and cutting brush to make a fuel break for the Yarnell Hill Fire, which by Monday afternoon had consumed more than 8,300 acres in an area about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix.
 
Ashcraft leaves behind his wife, Juliann, and their four children. Funeral services for the firefighters are pending.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/collin/Portable-shelters-considered-last-resort-for-firefighters-213895931.html
Portable shelters considered 'last resort' for firefighters
July, 1, 2013

Video at Link

[texasmom]

 

This is just so sad, my heart goes out to the families of these brave men.

Seeing the pictures of these young men today with their families, one with his first child on the way just took my breath.  Prayers of comfort and peace for the families, and of healing to those who are injured.

MuffyBee, I know how proud you must be of your youngest and other family members that are firefighters, but worry about them just the same especially in these tricky wildfires.

 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ff-yarnell-firefighters-afternoon-20130701,0,6877537.story
19 fallen firefighters plunge Prescott, Ariz., into grief
July 1, 2013


 

The hotshot crew victims were all men, most in their 20s.

"It’s a younger man’s game. These people keep themselves in exceptional condition," said Fraijo, who added, “I never heard them complain.... They always showed a great deal of respect. They always seemed to be playing pranks on each other, and a few on me."

The deceased were Andrew Ashcraft, 29; Robert Caldwell, 23; Travis Carder, 31; Dustin Deford, 24; Christopher MacKenzie, 30; Eric Marsh, 43; Grant McKee, 21; Sean Misner, 26; Scott Norris, 28; Wade Parker, 22; John Percin, 24; Anthony Rose, 23; Jesse Steed, 36; Joe Thurston, 32; Travis Turbyfill, 27; William Warneke, 25; Clayton Whitted, 28; Kevin Woyjeck, 21; and Garret Zuppiger, 27.

At least three hailed from Southern California: Woyjeck from Seal Beach and Warneke and MacKenzie from Hemet.

The identity of the crew member who survived has not been released.

"He’s well; he had been assigned to do a function and he wasn’t with them when they had deployed to shelter,” Fraijo said. “He feels terribly, and we all feel terribly, and we have very few words that express that sort of sorry. When you take a person in your arms and hug 'em, you know, you don’t have to say too much.”

Dennis Godfrey, a spokesman with the federal Bureau of Land Management, said officials had expected that 400 firefighters would be on duty Monday, but only 280 were on the lines by afternoon.

Godfrey said officials were hoping for more but didn't know when, or whether, they would arrive. “There are fires elsewhere,” Godfrey said. “We only have so many resources to deal with.”
 
Kathy Bryan of Williamson Valley said the members of the fire crew who perished helped save her home from the Doce blaze after it flared up June 18 in the Granite Mountain Wilderness, northwest of Prescott. That’s roughly 20 miles north of the Yarnell Hill fire.

“These hotshots were on our properties, saving them … saving my house,” Bryan said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Bryan and her dogs fled her home before the blaze approached. Soon Bryan’s cousin called, letting her know that the wife of one of the hotshots fighting the blaze had offered Bryan a place to stay. That woman is now a widow, Bryan said.

Now Bryan believes it’s her turn to help. “I need to find out what she needs,” Bryan said she told her cousin. “What can I do for her?”
 
Another dead firefighter, Anthony Rose, was expecting his first child with his fiancee, according to family friend Phyllis Barney of Glendale, Ariz.

Barney's family met Rose in the small Arizona town of Crown King, southeast of Prescott, when Rose moved there at age 16. In Crown King, Rose earned his GED online and went to work for the local fire department.

“Just getting notifications that an entire crew is killed … is a little difficult to handle when they’re your own and whatnot,” Barney said. “But when you’ve got one that really was kind of your own … it’s even tougher.”

The firefighters' bodies were taken to the Maricopa County medical examiner's office in Phoenix on Monday, and it was not clear when they would be returned to Prescott. Officials were still deciding when to hold a formal memorial service.

Some of the cirumstances of the crew's plight came into slightly sharper focus Monday, although officials cautioned that it could be a couple of days before more preliminary information was available while investigators picked through the disaster area.

Before the flames overtook the firefighters, a thunderstorm cell had moved into their location west of state Highway 89 between Yarnell and Peeples Valley, fire officials said.

The storm created strong and erratic winds in an area described as extremely rocky, with rough terrain and deep canyons. The gusts pushed the flames toward the hotshots, who were trying to create a firebreak in hopes of stopping the flames’ advance, said Wade Ward, a spokesman for the Prescott Fire Department.

As the winds shifted and fire approached, the men were probably trying to get to safety -- usually a clearing, Ward said.

“It had to be a perfect storm" for them to have deployed their fire shelters -- a last-ditch effort made in desperate situations, he said. Officials lost contact with the crew about 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

“Obviously wherever they deployed their shelters, they were too close to heavy fuels, so they got overrun,” said Art Morrison, a fire spokesman with the Arizona State Forestry Division.
 
Wade Parker, 22, of Chino Valley, about 30 miles north of Prescott, was another of the victims.

Parker’s 14-year-old cousin, Hailey McMains, viewed him as a big brother. “After church, we would find a place to sit and talk about life,” Hailey said. Wade would ask her: “'Anything we need to pray for, Hailey?' If I was having a bad week, we’d pray about that.”

Hailey said Wade and his high school sweetheart planned to marry in October. They had been together six years, she said.

She was at the home of an aunt and uncle Sunday evening when she heard on the news that some firefighters had died. “I asked my aunt, ‘Is Wade OK?’” Hailey said.

Her aunt put her fingers to her lips and said: “Sssssshhhhhhh,” pointing to one of Wade’s young nephews.

“A little while later, as I was leaving, she whispered, ‘Wade didn’t make it, Hailey,’ ” the girl recalled. “I cried all night long.”

[texasmom]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=202547396566817&set=a.201960996625457.1073741828.201948723293351&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

In Memory of Prescott Firefighters Lost 6/30/2013
9 minutes ago

[Nut44x4]

testing....... 4 

[MuffyBee]

testing....... 4 

Thank you for correcting the subject line to reflect the number of firefighters that lost their lives, Nut. 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Hotshot-who-survived-Ariz-fire-served-as-lookout-4643775.php
Hotshot who survived Ariz. fire served as lookout
July 2, 2013


In this photo shot by firefighter Andrew Ashcraft, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots watch a growing wildfire that later swept over and killed the crew of 19 firefighters near Yarnell, Ariz., Sunday, June 30, 2013. Ashcraft texted the photo to his wife, Juliann, but died later that day battling the out-of-control blaze. The 29-year-old father of four added the message, "This is my lunch spot...too bad lunch was an MRE." Photo: Courtesy Of Juliann Ashcraft

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — The lone survivor on an elite Arizona firefighting crew was serving as a lookout and relaying key information to his colleagues when a raging wildfire trapped and killed them, officials said Tuesday.

Brendan McDonough, 21, was in his third season with the 20-member, Prescott-based Granite Mountain Hotshots.

He was assigned to be a "heads-up on the hillside" for the team on that fateful afternoon two days ago, said Wade Ward, a Prescott Fire Department spokesman who relayed McDonough's story at an afternoon news conference.

Ward said McDonough "did exactly what he was supposed to" when conditions changed as his team fought the mountain blaze near the town of Yarn ell, about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix.

He notified the other Hotshots that the weather was changing rapidly and told them the fire had switched direction because of the wind. He also told them he was leaving the area and to contact him on the radio if they needed anything, Ward said.

Ward received a standing ovation as he implored the media: "Please leave him alone."
 

Slide show at link.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.startribune.com/nation/214250361.html
Ariz. town honoring fallen firefighters with all-day July Fourth celebration
July 4, 2013

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Prescott officials are working to retool the over-the-top celebration that has made this Old West town the place to be on Independence Day in the wake of the deaths over the weekend of 19 hometown firefighters.

One thing is for certain: There will be fireworks.

The booming red and white bursts may remind some of the wildfire, still burning, that claimed all but one of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew on Sunday, but the hilltop community of 40,000 is determined to mourn its dead without compromising its traditions or shying away from overt celebration. The mantra for days has been, "celebration, not grief."

Though much of the southwest remains a tinderbox, fire officials say they will be able to deploy the pyrotechnics safely, pouring water on the detonation area if necessary.

Festivities are expected to last at least 10 hours and include an all-day carnival, live music and a nighttime dance at the town's outdoor rodeo.

Hotels have long since run out of room for out-of-towners hoping to attend the celebration at Pioneer Park, a 10-minute drive from the makeshift memorial residents have built outside the Hotshot headquarters.
 
Sunday's tragedy raised questions of whether the Hotshot crew should have been pulled out much earlier and whether all the usual precautions would have made any difference in the face of triple-digit temperatures, erratic winds and dry conditions that caused the fire to explode.

A team of forest managers and safety experts is charged with finding out what went wrong. In addition to examining radio logs, the fire site and weather reports, they'll also talk to the crew's sole survivor, a 21-year-old lookout who warned his fellow firefighters and friends that the wildfire was switching directions and heading straight for them.

Nearly 600 firefighters continue to fight the blaze, which has burned about 13 square miles. Hundreds remain evacuated and at least 129 homes have been destroyed, according to a tally released Wednesday by the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

Many of the evacuees are staying with friends and relatives in Prescott, where they have been frequenting public meetings and memorial services in town.

The fire was 45 percent contained Wednesday night, up from 8 percent earlier in the day, and authorities said the figure could change on the Fourth of July as they compile a more complete picture with sophisticated mapping techniques.

Evacuees, families of the fallen men, and firefighters from across the state are expected to attend the town's holiday celebrations.
 

[MuffyBee]

 

http://www.startribune.com/nation/214250361.html


A procession of the vehicles left by the 19 elite Granite Mountain Hotshot crew members killed over the weekend are removed from the fire area near Yarnell, Ariz., Wednesday
., Associated Press

[MuffyBee]

I'm sorry, I should have checked the size of the photo before I posted.