19 firefighters killed in Arizona
- 11 years ago
EDIT CONTAINS 4:3 MATERIAL
Fast-moving wildfires in the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona claimed the lives of 19 firefighters on Sunday.
It happened about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix in fires that began on Friday.
The firemen were from an elite team of wildfire fighters from Prescott, Arizona known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DAN FRAIJO, PRESCOTT FIRE CHIEF, SAYING:
"The families are in terrible shock. Fire departments are like families and so the entire fire department, the entire area, the entire state is being devastated by the magnitude of this incident."
It's U.S.'s worst firefighting tragedy from a single wildland blaze since 1933 when 29 people died in a fire in Los Angeles.
Fast-moving wildfires in the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona claimed the lives of 19 firefighters on Sunday.
It happened about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix in fires that began on Friday.
The firemen were from an elite team of wildfire fighters from Prescott, Arizona known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DAN FRAIJO, PRESCOTT FIRE CHIEF, SAYING:
"The families are in terrible shock. Fire departments are like families and so the entire fire department, the entire area, the entire state is being devastated by the magnitude of this incident."
It's U.S.'s worst firefighting tragedy from a single wildland blaze since 1933 when 29 people died in a fire in Los Angeles.