Nineteen firefighters on Sunday lost their lives while battling an overpowering blaze in Yamell town in central Arizona. The fire crew was overcome by the wildfire, recorded as the deadliest in the last 30 years in the United States
The fire, which started Friday, has destroyed around 500 homes and as a result of gushing winds, high temperatures and low humidity, is now spreading over an area of 2,000 acres, according to the officials. The town has been evacuated.
The fire is believed to have started by lightning strikes.
Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman, Mike Reichling, said an estimated 200 fire fighters were deployed in the region to fight off the windy fire.
All the fire fighters who lost their lives were a part of the city's fire department, according to the Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo.
"We grieve for the family. We grieve for the department. We grieve for the city," Dan Fraijo said, according to the Associated Press.
"We're devastated. We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet," said Dan.
The crew that died in the battle had earlier worked in other wild fires in recent weeks in Arizona and New Mexico.
"By the time they got there, it was moving very quickly," Fraijo said.
The crew was forced to deploy their emergency fire shelter, a tent like structure that is fire resistant and protects against heat and flames but it seems the fire was too strong.
"One of the last fail safe methods that a firefighter can do under those conditions is literally to dig as much as they can down and cover themselves with a protective - kinda looks like a foil type - fire-resistant material - with the desire, the hope at least, is that the fire will burn over the top of them and they can survive it," said Fraijo.
"Under certain conditions there's usually only sometimes a 50 percent chance that they survive," said Dan. "It's an extreme measure that's taken under the absolute worst conditions."
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