Deadly Arizona wildfire balloons to 13 square miles
Published 8:23 am Monday, July 1, 2013
YARNELL, Ariz. (AP) — A wildfire that killed nearly 20 members of an elite fire crew trying to help protect homes in a small central Arizona town has quadrupled in size, to 13 square miles.
Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman Mike Reichling said Monday that 18 “hotshot” fire crews are now battling the blaze, approximately 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
On Sunday, the lightning-sparked fire killed 18 members of a 20-member hotshot crew based in nearby Prescott. Reichling says one other person also was killed but has not been identified.
The fire on Sunday spread to at least 2,000 acres amid triple-digit temperatures, destroying 200 homes and sending hundreds fleeing from the community of Yarnell.
Reichling says the blaze is now at 8,374 acres, with zero containment.
This graphic shows the location of Yarnell
Ariz.
where 19 firefighters died battling a wildfire on June 30
2013. (AP Photo)
Toby Schultz pauses after laying flowers at the gate of the Granite Mountain Hot Shot Crew fire station
Monday
July 1
2013
in Prescott
Ariz. An out-of-control blaze overtook the elite group of firefighters trained to battle the fiercest wildfires
killing 19 members as they tried to protect themselves from the flames under fire-resistant shields. The disaster Sunday afternoon all but wiped out the 20-member Hotshot fire crew leaving the city’s fire department reeling. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Dean Smith watches as the Yarnell Hill Fire encroaches on his home in Glenn Ilah on Sunday
June 30
2013 near Yarnell
Ariz. The fire started Friday and picked up momentum as the area experienced high temperatures
low humidity and windy conditions. It has forced the evacuation of residents in the Peeples Valley area and in the town of Yarnell. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic
