Nineteen firefighters killed battling Arizona blaze

(Reuters) - An elite team of 19 firemen were killed on Sunday in one of deadliest U.S. firefighting disasters in decades as flames raced through dry brush and grass in central Arizona, destroying scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of two towns.

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.

Art Morrison of the Arizona State Forestry Commission told CNN the firefighters, members of a specially trained "hot shot" team who serve as the shock troops of a firefighting force, were killed on Sunday afternoon 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.

The crew was initially reported missing before the U.S. Wildland Fire Aviation service said the team had perished in the blaze, which erupted on Friday near the small town of Yarnell about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, the state capital.

President Barack Obama, traveling in Africa, issued a statement hailing the fallen firefighters as "heroes".

"They were ... 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," the president said.

Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo called the tragedy "one of the worst wildfire disasters that's ever taken place". He said he did not know the circumstances that led to the 19 deaths.

He said one member of the 20-man crew had been in a separate location and survived. There was no immediate information on his condition.

"We teach our people to be safe, to take safety precautions. Sometimes, unfortunately, it just doesn't work out," he told reporters at a news conference after darkness fell. He said the unpredictable weather paired with tinder-dry conditions can be a volatile mix for those on the front lines of wildfires.

FULL STORY: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/01/us-usa-fires-arizona-idUS...

Arizona fire: 19 firefighters killed battling forest blaze

Nineteen firefighters have been killed while battling a wildfire in central Arizona, in the worst incident of its kind that the United States has seen for eighty years.

4:42AM BST 01 Jul 2013