Travel Firefighter

The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 City of Prescott firefighters, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

This event resulted in the highest wildland firefighter death toll in the United States since the 1933 Griffith Park Fire killed 29 firefighters, and the highest death toll from any U.S. wildfire since the 1991 East Bay Hills fire killed 25 people. It is the sixth deadliest American firefighter disaster overall and the deadliest wildfire ever in Arizona.

At 5:36 p.m. MST (23:36 UTC) on June 28, 2013, lightning ignited a wildfire on BLM lands near Yarnell, Arizona, a town of approximately 700 residents about eighty miles northwest of Phoenix.^[1][3] Strong winds in the area, reaching more than 22 mph (35 km/h), pushed the fire on June 30 from 300 acres (120 ha) to over 2,000 acres (810 ha).^[4] A long-term drought affecting the area contributed to the fire's rapid spread and erratic behavior, as did temperatures of 101 °F (38 °C). Emergency dispatchers were prevented from sending in fire crews immediately by BLM personnel.^[5]

By July 1 the fire had grown to over 8,300 acres (3,400 ha). The nearby community of Peeples Valley was evacuated.^[4] The fire was still completely uncontrolled, with more than 400 firefighters on the line.^[6] On July 2 the fire was estimated at 8 percent containment, but it had not grown in the past 24 hours.^[7] By the end of the day on July 3, the fire was reportedly 45 percent contained and not growing; 600 firefighters were assigned. Peeples Valley residents were allowed to return to their homes on July 4 and Yarnell residents on July 8.^[9] The fire was declared 100 percent contained on July 10.

On June 30, 19 firefighters with the Prescott Fire Department's interagency^[17] Granite Mountain Hotshots were overrun and killed by the fire.