Press Trust of India
HOUSTON, 1 JULY: An elite team of 19 firemen were killed battling a rapidly spreading wildfire destroying scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of two towns in central Arizona, in one of deadliest incident of its kind in the USA after nearly 80 years.
All the firefighters died while racing to contain the contain the Yarnell Hill wildfire, north of Phoenix, after the blaze destroyed the town yesterday, forcing people to flee.
US President Barack Obama hailed the firefighters killed as “heroes”.
“They were heroes ~ highly-skilled professionals who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm’s way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet,” Mr Obama said in a statement today.
“The federal government is already assisting, and we will remain in close contact with state and local officials to provide the support they need,” he said as he headed to Tanzania on the final leg of an official tour of Africa with his family.
“But today, Michelle and I join all Americans in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of these brave firefighters and all whose lives have been upended by this terrible tragedy,” said Mr Obama.
The firefighters were part of a specially trained “hotshot” unit who had battled other wildfires in New Mexico and Arizona in recent weeks, officials say.
The fire, believed to have been ignited by lightning, broke out on Friday and according to local forestry officials has already covered 2,000 acres, spreading rapidly through the dry, forested area amid strong winds.
An estimated 500 homes have been ravaged by the deadly blaze which came amid a scorching heatwave and tinder-dry conditions across the US southwest, with records broken over the weekend in Arizona and California.
Residents of Yarnell Hill and Peeples Valley were being evacuated due to the blaze that is believed to have been started by lightning, officials said on a fire alert website.
Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman, Mike Reichling, said that an estimated two hundred firefighters are now battling the flames. Federal authorities are expected to arrive with additional force to help tackle the disaster.
Mr Reichling expects 400 people to join the battle against the deadly blaze, which will also involve numerous water carrying aircrafts. About 250 firefighters, including two Type 2 crews, three Type 1 crews and four engines are at the scene at present, Mr Reichling said. Three Type 1 crews, seven helicopters, two air tankers, four single engine air tankers, and multiple engines and air tankers were ordered.
The Red Cross has opened a shelter at Yavapai College in Prescott, the Sheriff’s office said.
According to the US Fire Administration, there has been 43 firefighter fatalities reported so far in 2013 before this incident. A total of 83 firefighters died last year while on duty.
Figures from the National Fire Protection Association, a non-profit organisation, show that these deaths are the worst firefighter fatalities from a wildfire since 29 firefighters died fighting a blaze in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park in 1933.
Yesterday’s deaths also mark the largest loss of firefighter lives on US soil since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, when 340 firefighters were killed, according to NFPA statistics.
Record and near-record temperatures left much of the US southwest sweltering over the weekend, with Death Valley in California equalling the hottest ever June temperature in the USA, at 54 degrees Celsius. As of today, there are over 40 active blazes in the states of California, Arizona and New Mexico.