• 2013 – Nineteen firefighters die controlling a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona.

Yarnell Hill Fire

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Coordinates: 34°14'54"N 112°45'29"W


The fire on July 1, 2013

Date(s): June 28 – July 10, 2013
Location: Yavapai County, Arizona, U.S.
Coordinates: 34°14'54"N 112°45'29"W
Statistics
Burned area: 8,400 acres (34 km2)
Impacts
Deaths: 19
Non-fatal injuries: 23
Structures destroyed: 129
Damage: $900 million
Ignition
Cause: Dry lightning

The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Just one of the hotshots on the crew survived—he was posted as a lookout on the fire and was not with the others when the fire overtook them. The Yarnell Hill Fire was one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires since the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which killed 25 people, and the deadliest wildland fire for U.S. firefighters since the 1933 Griffith Park fire, which killed 29 "impromptu" civilian firefighters drafted on short notice to help battle the Los Angeles area fire.

Yarnell also killed more firefighters than any incident since the September 11 attacks. The Yarnell Hill Fire is the sixth-deadliest American firefighter disaster in history, the deadliest wildfire ever in the state of Arizona, and (at least until 2014) was "the most-publicized event in wildland firefighting history."

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