Tragic news tonight / 19 Firefighters Killed Today
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That's a shame. R.I.P. My brothers. I have not seen this anyplace but here, thanks for the heads up.
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Such a tragedy and so quick. Back in my younger horseback riding days I helped round up a few head of steers on a cattle ranch just outside Yarnell. Small quiet town, self-reliant ranchers. Latest news says half the town is gone. We are so dry here. John
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I just looked out my back door @ the fire a little SW of my ranch east of Kingman & the whole top of one of the mountains in the Hualapais is solid flames,it appears to be over a mile long,its been going since late afternoon yesterday,what I don't understand is why I haven't seen any borate bombers flying over,it's pretty rough country up there for firefighters,very steep.Last evening the power was out for about 3 or 4 hrs due to a lightning strike hitting a transformer & blowing it right off the pole & starting another fire about a mile NE of my place,by 8:30 last nite it was 89 degrees in the house due to no power to run the cooler.I haven't seen any news today,where were the firefighters killed?I've had a lot of respect for the guys that work the firelines ever since I was working mounted guarding the convicts on the firelines,I was on my horse & the fire fighters were going up & down the inclines like mountain goats,they're a tough bunch.
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I hope like hell it does not turn out to be life lost fighting a fire that threatens nothing but grass and trees.Something went horribly wrong for these men.
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The 19 that perished were "hotshots" that are the elite of the firefighters. There job is to hike deep into the area to cut firebreaks and see if they can turn the fire back upon itself. These people are the bravest and hardest working individuals one could meet. The fire turned on them and they had to deploy their emergency fire shelters, foil fire retardant material and dig as deep a hole as possible and hope the fire burns over them. It's a 50 % issue at that point on survival.
As a father of a firefighter/EMT it hits the firefighting community hard when we experience a loss as large as this. Any loss of life is difficult enough. They train endlessly to save lives and property of people they've never met and do so unselfishly. A truly unique brand of individual. Our thoughts and prayers to the fallen, their families and friends.
As a father of a firefighter/EMT it hits the firefighting community hard when we experience a loss as large as this. Any loss of life is difficult enough. They train endlessly to save lives and property of people they've never met and do so unselfishly. A truly unique brand of individual. Our thoughts and prayers to the fallen, their families and friends.
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The firefighters were killed near Yarnell, AZ. It's about an hour northwest of Phoenix. I've hiked that area a few times and some of the terrain is very rugged. Will have to wait for more details today. Our prayers go out to all their families and friends...
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May the good lord rest their souls, and the souls of all who have given their lives in service to others. I cant imagine the pain that the families feel i just hope in time they take great pride in the courage these men had running into a situation most would run away from. Sad day boys sad day
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I spent 30 years in CA fighting these type of fires and be a paramedic on top of it. I have long felt that every response I ever made,every patient I ever touched gave me something or taught me something. I never walked away from a fire and did not learn something of myself or the men I worked with. I know of only 3 career paths that require your full attention(you or other people die) for the duration of your career,military/LE,medicine and firefighting.I had 30 years of education formal and informal, nature of the beast changes in moments.My biggest fear in this incident is that some bad decisions were made,to kill 19 knowing what we know about fire behavior,tactics/strategy,fuels,aspect, weather. This flat out should not have happened, regardless of what they were trying to protect, a few remote buildings, grass, trees.Somebody did not watch out for what was happening on that mountain, they should have not been there. Every move you make one thought is in your head, if this goes to shit which way is out, you always, always have your back up plan and exit. Nothing on this earth is worth what those families are going through.There's a reason it's been 80 years since we killed this many firefighters on a wildland response or any response.
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^^^ Agreed, something went south and went south FAST. The one thing that's taught is that fire makes it's own "weather" and when I was in the service learning the different aspects of "normal" weather they touched on this very fact, though not in tremendous detail, as we weren't training to be firefighters but needed to understand the complexity of the beast. I always tell my son to use his head and do what his instincts tell him to do. Fire season is stressful on those that man the front lines and their families.
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Several homes in Yarnell have been lost as well. As of 3pm today ZERO CONTAINMENT. Extreme temps are fueling these fires (several in AZ right now).
All of them have been recovered and taken into Phx. Several streets were lined with well wishers as the 19 vans made there way to the Maricopa County examiners
All of them have been recovered and taken into Phx. Several streets were lined with well wishers as the 19 vans made there way to the Maricopa County examiners
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R.I.P Heroes.
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