19 FIREFIGHTERS KILLED IN ARIZONA DEADLIEST WILDFIRE

At least 19 firefighters were killed Sunday battling a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona, officials said, in the deadliest incident of its kind in the United States in decades.

The firefighters died while racing to contain the Yarnell Hill wildfire north of Phoenix, in what Arizona governor Jan Brewer called "as dark a day as I can remember."

The deadly blaze came amid baking temperatures and tinder-dry conditions across the US southwest, with records broken over the weekend in Arizona and California, and follows an already deadly wildfire season across the region.

President Barack Obama paid tribute to those who lost their lives, in a statement issued while traveling in South Africa which lamented "this terrible tragedy."

"They were heroes -- 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 Yarnell Hill fire, believed to have been ignited by lightning, broke out Friday and according to local forestry officials has already covered 2,000 acres, spreading rapidly through the dry, forested area amid strong winds.

• "It appears the firefighters had to deploy their fire shelters and were overcome by the fire," said an update on the Northeastern Arizona Public Information website, referring to last-ditch protection equipment.
• Hundreds of residents of Yarnell and Peeples Valley were being evacuated, officials said on a fire alert website, as the blaze continued to tear through the area.

Source:  Global Post...More...