Granite Mountain Hotshots

Yarnell Hill Fire continues to burn out of control



By Amy B Wang, JJ Hensley, Lindsey Collom, Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Michael Clancy | July 1, 2013 9:52 PM
www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/free/20130701yarnell-hill-firefighters-die.html


As the community grieved the loss of 19 firefighters who died Sunday fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire, the deadly blaze continued to rage out of control. As of 9:30 p.m. Monday, it had grown to 8,400 acres and remained zero percent contained. About 500 firefighters were battling the blaze, with more expected to join Tuesday.

Mother Nature did not cooperate. Adverse weather conditions forced state incident management officials to call off air support from about 5 p.m. through Monday evening. Officials feared the monsoon activity could cause erratic winds that would make the fire unpredictable and difficult to fight.

The city of Prescott on Monday also released the names of the 19 firefighters killed, a few hours after a somber caravan carried their bodies to Phoenix. All 19 men were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite firefighting team employed at the Prescott Fire Department. One other Granite Mountain firefighter was away from the group at the time.

Fourteen of the men were in their 20s.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office plans to perform autopsies on all 19 firefighters in the next 48 to 72 hours, said county spokeswoman Cari Gerchick. Yavapai authorities had asked for help because the rural county didn’t have the resources to handle so many casualties.

There are 10 medical examiners in Maricopa County who can perform autopsies, compared to one in Yavapai County, she said.

“It is the largest mass-casualty event in memory,” Gerchick said.

The caravan headed south on Arizona 89 at the same time as a press conference in Prescott featuring Gov. Jan Brewer, Prescott Mayor Marlin Kuykendall and Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo. Brewer declared a state emergency, freeing $200,000 of state funds for the firefighting effort.

At least 400 firefighters were battling the fire at midday Monday, said Mary Rasmussen of the Southwest Area Incident Management Team. She said crews would focus on the eastern flank of the fire, where structures in Yarnell and Peeple’s Valley were threatened. She said efforts to determine why the firefighters died would continue.

All of Yarnell and the neighboring Peeples Valley remained under evacuation orders.

Yarnell is about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, along a popular back way from Phoenix to Prescott.

Officials estimated 50 structures were destroyed on Sunday, based on a Yarnell Fire Department flyover on Monday morning. It was unknown how many of those were homes, but 250 homes remained threatened by the flames.

At 6 p.m. Monday, federal officials took command of the fire from Arizona forestry officials, meaning firefighting efforts will be directed by the U.S. Forest Service. The shift makes the fire a “Type 1” incident, which will bring in the most experienced teams and potentially more resources.

Mike Reichling of the Arizona Forestry Division, who was helping incident commanders, said only a third of the firefighters originally requested would be needed unless the fire grows.

The wind-whipped blaze also prompted officials to shut 25 miles of Arizona 89 between Congress and Kirkland, but residents of the hundreds of evacuated homes could still travel the estimated 30 miles to a shelter in Prescott, Reichling said.

Erratic winds, dry fuel and monsoon-like weather created conditions for the fire to spread quickly, Reichling said. Fueled by chaparral and grass, the blaze burned uphill on state land about 25 miles north of Wickenburg with 15- to 20-foot flames.

The low humidity, type of fuel, topography and northwest direction of the wind was feeding the and pushing it up the hill toward the communities, Reichling said.

He added that the winds changed direction on the hotshot crew. There had not been a fire in the Yarnell area in 40 years. Each of the dead firefighters apparently had deployed an emergency shelter, but not all the bodies were found inside them, Reichling said.

“We have to get to the bottom of what went wrong with that particular team,” said Reichling, who noted that all standard procedures were followed. A National Incident Management team will investigate the cause of the deaths.

“They were caught up in a very bad situation,” he said.

It is the worst firefighting tragedy ever in Arizona, eclipsing the 1990 Dude Fire near Payson, which claimed six firefighters. It was the worst wildland firefighting tragedy in U.S. history since 25 were killed in the Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles in 1933.

Fraijo, the Prescott fire chief, said one member of the Granite Mountain Hot Shot crew had survived because the firefighter was not with the other members when they were caught in the blaze, which was caused by lightning.

“We are devastated. We just lost 19 of the finest people you will ever meet,” Fraijo said Sunday night. “We’re going through a terrible crisis right now.”

Juliann Ashcraft said she found out her firefighter husband, Andrew, was among the dead by watching the news with her four children.

“They died heroes,” she said, crying and wiping tears away from her eyes. “And we’ll miss them. We love them.”

A second victim was Kevin Woyjeck. A release from the Los Angeles County Fire Department said he was the son of Los Angeles County fire captain Joe Woyjeck.

Brewer said in a statement that “it will forever ring as one of our state’s darkest, most devastating days.

“It will forever remind us of the constant peril our firefighters selflessly face protecting us. We can never repay these nineteen men and their families for their service and the ultimate sacrifice they made on our behalf. We can, however, offer them our deepest, eternal debt of gratitude.”

The governor ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama also spoke about the tragedy.

“They were heroes,” he said of the dead, “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.”

He said the federal government is assisting and will remain in close contact with local officials to provide support.

The Wickenburg Community Hospital treated residents with minor injuries and smoke inhalation, said Roxie Glover, director of community relations at the hospital.

Glover said the emergency room started filling up about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Those with more serious injuries were transported to other medical centers.

“It’s a terrible tragedy,” Glover said, noting the hospital had fielded phone calls from families wondering if a family member was among the firefighters lost.

The Red Cross operated two shelters overnight to house evacuees, said Brian Gomez, spokesman for Red Cross Grand Canyon Chapter. Thirty-eight people stayed in the 100-bed shelter at Yavapai College in Prescott, and seven sheltered at Wickenburg High School, where 475 beds are available.

As many as 60 people stopped by for services at the Prescott shelter; 30 were reported to have used the Wickenburg shelter on Sunday.

The Prescott shelter can accommodate small pets, and the Hidden Spring Ranch In Peeples Valley can take livestock and large animals.

Prescott Mayor Marlin Kuykendall said that his city was ready to accommodate the dozens of families who need shelter from the Yarnell fire.

Prescott has the added challenge of hosting a week-long rodeo that Kuykendall expects will draw more than 30,000 visitors over the week.

"There's not a room in this town," available, said Kuykendall, who added that some Prescott residents opened their homes to displaced families.

Between the shelters at Prescott High School and Yavapai College and the generosity of Prescott residents, Kuykendall said no displaced family "will be without a roof over their heads."

Kuykendall said the community's response and support to grieving residents has been heartwarming.

"Does this hurt? You bet it hurts," Kuykendall said. "We have a strong community with a strong backbone."

Yavapai County Supervisor Rowle P. Simmons, who represents Yarnell, said he is devastated by the loss of life and the fire.

“I am physically sick right now,” he said. “I know these firefighters. I know a number of them personally — one of them, particularly, I talked to when he first arrived. I’ve got myself pretty well composed right now, but I’m in a mess.”

Simmons, who spent the morning and afternoon at the scene, returned home around 4 p.m Sunday.

“And that’s when everything went to hell,” he said. “I’m disappointed that I left when I did — I thought things would be OK. Little did I know it was going to turn into such a disaster. What I’m hearing is complete devastation down there. Propane tanks are blowing up.”

U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, who represents Arizona’s Fourth District, said in a statement that his “heart weeps for those who have lost their lives.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who have lost so much and the first responders battling this difficult situation,” Gosar said, adding he will continue to monitor the fire closely and keep in contact with emergency responders.