1 Jul 2013

19 firefighters die in Arizona wildfire

Nineteen firefighters are killed battling a fast-moving wildfire menacing a small town in central Arizona, local officials have said.

Art Morrison of the Arizona State Forestry Commission told CNN the firefighters were killed when they were overtaken by flames.

“It was a hand crew, a hot shot crew,” he said.

“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.

It was the greatest loss of life among firefighters from a single wildland blaze in the United States in 80 years, since 29 men died battling the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles, according to National Fire Protection Association records.