Out-of-control Arizona wildfire kills 19

firefighters, including nearly all of

elite Hotshot crew

Eighteen members of an elite Hotshots firefighting crew and one other person who were killed Sunday in an Arizona wildfire tried to protect themselves by deploying tent-like structures before they were overtaken, a state forestry spokesman says.

The lightning-sparked fire, which spread to more than 8,000 acres amid triple-digit temperatures, destroyed at least 50 structures and threatened 500 people in Yarnell, a town of about 700 residents that sits 85 miles northwest of Phoenix, the Yavapai County Emergency Management said Monday. Most people had evacuated from the town, and no injuries or other deaths were reported. It was zero percent contained as of Monday morning local time.

The fire killed 18 members of the 20-member of the Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots crew, which were known for battling the region’s worst fires. The average age of the men in the crew was 22-years-old, Fox 10 reports. 

Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman Mike Reichling said one member of the hotshot crew survived after separating from the team to move a vehicle. The other person killed in the fire has not yet been identified, but he was also involved with moving vehicles for the hotshots crew, added Roy Hall, an incident commander in the Arizona State Forestry Division.

State forestry spokesman Art Morrison told the Associated Press that the firefighters were forced to deploy their emergency fire shelters — tent-like structures meant to shield firefighters from flames and heat — when they were caught in the Yarnell-area fire on Sunday.  

Some of the firefighters who died were found inside the shelters, while others were outside the shelters, Reichling told the Arizona Republic.

A helicopter pilot discovered the bodies Sunday, a Department of Public Safety spokesperson said, according to Fox 10. Authorities are now in the process of removing the bodies, but an investigation into the deaths will take time, Hall said.

It was the most firefighters killed battling a wildfire in the U.S. in decades. 

Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said the firefighters, whose names have not been released, were part of the city’s fire department. 

"We're devastated," Fraijo said late Sunday. "We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet."

Fraijo described the tent deployments as "an extreme measure that's taken under the absolute worst conditions," and even then, he said, there is usually only a 50 percent chance of survival.

"One of the last fail-safe methods that a firefighter can do under those conditions is literally to dig as much as they can down and cover themselves with a protective -- kinda looks like a foil type -- fire-resistant material -- with the desire, the hope at least, is that the fire will burn over the top of them and they can survive it," Fraijo said.

Prescott firefighter and spokesman Wade Ward told the Prescott Daily Courier in an interview last week that the hotshots crews are highly trained individuals who work long hours in extreme conditions. The crews, which number roughly 100 in the U.S., often hike for miles into the wilderness with chainsaws and backpacks stuffed with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and raging fires.

The US Forest Service's website says the "core values of "duty, integrity, and respect" have earned Hotshot crews an excellent reputation throughout the United States and Canada as elite teams of professional wildland firefighters."

Two hundred firefighters were working on the Yarnell fire Sunday, and several hundred more were expected to arrive Monday. 

Reichling said Monday that 18 hotshot fire crews are now battling the blaze.

The National Weather Service also said there's a 30 percent of thunderstorms and showers Monday in the Yarnell area. Rain could help slow the fire, but the forecast also says the storms could produce gusty winds.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer plans to travel to the area on Monday.

"This is as dark a day as I can remember," Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said in a statement on Sunday. "It may be days or longer before an investigation reveals how this tragedy occurred, but the essence we already know in our hearts: fighting fires is dangerous work. The risk is well-known to the brave men and women who don their gear and do battle against forest and flame.

"When a tragedy like this strikes, all we can do is offer our eternal gratitude to the fallen, and prayers for the families and friends left behind. God bless them all."

President Obama, currently traveling in Africa, released a statement praising the firefighters as "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."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the "devastating" loss is a reminder of deadly risks firefighters take every day.

"Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," McCain said in a statement.

The National Fire Protection Association website lists the last wildland fire to kill more firefighters as the 1933 Griffith Park fire of Los Angeles, which killed 29. The most firefighters -- 340 -- were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, according to the website.

In another Arizona fire, a 2-acre blaze that started at a motorcycle salvage yard and spread to a trailer park has destroyed five mobile homes in the Gila County community of Rye, located more than 130 miles east of Yarnell.

Gila County Health and Emergency Services Director Michael O'Driscoll said no one was injured in Rye.

The fire was ignited Saturday night at All Bikes Sales located off Highway 87.  It spread to neighboring federal Forest Service land but was fully contained within 12 hours of its start.

The Red Cross says seven adults and two children were staying at a shelter set up for people who were evacuated.