Arizona wildfire. Image from 7News Denver video
19 firefighters have been killed tackling a fast-spreading wildfire and protecting the town of Yarnell, Arizona.
A lightning strike ignited the fire on Friday, with flames spreading rapidly through the dry forest, expanding to engulf around 2,000 acres as areas in the US experience a record heatwave.
The firefighters list were form the elite Granite Mountain Hotshots crew, who often trek for long distances into the forests with chainsaws to build lines of protection for towns from the fires. However, this time the team were not so lucky and became caught in the blaze. The firefighters were forced to dig holes in the earth and deploy tent-like “fire shelters”, which at best can offer a 50% survival rate for those inside as the fires rage overhead.
President Barack Obama has paid tribute to the “heroes” who lost their lives by putting “themselves in harm’s way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet”.