The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Just one of the hotshots on the crew survived—he was posted as a lookout on the fire and was not with the others when the fire overtook them. The Yarnell Hill Fire was one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires since the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which killed 25 people, and the deadliest wildland fire for U.S. firefighters since the 1933 Griffith Park fire, which killed 29 "impromptu" civilian firefighters drafted on short notice to help battle that Los Angeles area fire.
Yarnell also killed more firefighters than any incident since 9/11. The Yarnell Hill Fire is the sixth-deadliest American firefighter disaster in history, the deadliest wildfire ever in the state of Arizona, and (at least until 2014) was "the most-publicized event in wildland firefighting history."
The tragedy is primarily attributed to an extreme and sudden shift in weather patterns, causing the fire to intensify and cut off the firefighters route as they were escaping. The victims were killed by the intense heat and flames of the fire. Other factors that contributed to the tragedy include the terrain surrounding the escape route, which may have blocked the victims' view of the fire front and limited situational awareness, and problems with radio communications.
Overview
At around 5:36 p.m. MST (23:36 UTC) on June 28, 2013, a spell of dry lightning ignited a wildfire on Bureau of Land Management lands near Yarnell, Arizona, a town of approximately 700 residents located about northwest of Phoenix. On June 30, winds blowing at over pushed the fire from to over . A long-term drought affecting the area contributed to the fire's rapid spread and erratic behavior, as did temperatures of .
By July 1, the fire had expanded to over and prompted the evacuation of the nearby community of Peeples Valley. The fire was still completely uncontrolled, with more than 400 firefighters on the line. On July 2, the fire was estimated at 8% containment and had not grown in the past 24 hours. By the end of the day on July 3, the fire was reportedly 45 percent contained and showing no signs of expanding, thus allowing Peeples Valley residents to return to their homes on July 4. Four days later, on July 8, Yarnell residents were permitted to return. The fire was declared 100% contained on July 10.
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said that 127 buildings in Yarnell and two in Peeples Valley had been destroyed. A "flash point" of the fire was the Glen Ilah neighborhood of Yarnell, where fewer than half of the structures were burned. Officials shut down of Arizona State Route 89 shortly after the fire started, and of State Route 89 remained closed as of June 30.
A total evacuation of Yarnell and partial evacuation of Peeples Valley was ordered. At least 600 people were under mandatory evacuation orders. An evacuation shelter was set up at Yavapai College in Prescott, with members of the Red Cross providing cots and blankets for overnight stays, along with meals and medical assistance.
A second evacuation shelter was assembled at Wickenburg High School in nearby Wickenburg, because the closure of State Route 89 made it impossible for some people to reach the first shelter. Officials from the Red Cross said that 351 people spent at least one night at one of the shelters.
Fatalities
On June 30, wildland firefighters with the Prescott Fire Department's interagency Granite Mountain Hotshots were overrun and killed by the fire. Initial reports indicated that one of the firefighters was not a member of the hotshot crew (IHC), but Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo later confirmed that all 19 were in league with the Granite Mountain Hotshots. The firefighters had apparently deployed fire shelters during the ambush, but the heat of the wildfire soared over . Not all of the bodies were found inside the fire shelters. The city of Prescott released the names of the 19 firefighters on July 1.