The Yarnell Hill Fire caused loss of lives, homes and possessions, all precious in their own way. The question is, should this have happened?
Photo from AZ State Air Attack plane on 06/29/13
In the beginning
A Friday night lightning strike on the Weaver Mountains with no rain started a fire in the crispy dry chaparral. Smoke could be seen from the backyards of residences. A friend called the local volunteer fire department who was aware of the incident and said Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was on the scene.
An 8-10 acre fire increased to 200 acres by Saturday and extreme temperatures and wind moved the fire closer to the small community of Glen Illah at the southwest end of Yarnell, Arizona. BLM were there watching. Why wasn’t this put out right away?
AP photo Tom Story
And so it burns
Sunday at 7am aircraft were finally ordered and the Arizona State Forestry wildland-firefighting team assumed command at 10am. By then the blaze had increased to 800 acres heading north towards Peeples Valley and in the afternoon Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshot crew were sent in to Yarnell to establish a fire line to save homes from the growing inferno. Prescott firefighters were joined by the US Forest Service to attack the fire from ground and air. By late afternoon the people in town were told to evacuate.
What would you grab from your home with a five minute warning?
Tragedy strikes
National Weather Service meteorologists in Flagstaff were tracking a monsoon thunderstorm with 40mph winds to the north of the Yarnell Hill Fire. Calls were made to incident command. Swirling winds pushed the fire back south towards town and an unprecedented wave of flame engulfed 19 of the 20-man hotshot crew. The largest loss of life during a fire in Arizona’s long history of fires. And now 2000 acres burned.
We mourn for these firefighters. An investigation is underway.
Taking this seriously
Late Monday the Type 2 fire was re-designated as Type 1, the most complex kind of wildfire, and the federal government took over from the state fighting this now 8400 acre wildfire with 0% containment.
By Tuesday approximately 500 firefighters were on the scene along with air support and with little growth in the fire achieved 8% containment.
Wednesday, the winds calmed a bit and the temperatures decreased allowing for a 45% containment attained by 600 firefighters. Media fly-over images began to show downtown Yarnell still standing and a patchwork of destruction mostly in the neighborhood of Glen Illah. Yet even though I live there six months of the year I had difficulty discerning where and what I looked at.
Some allowed to return
Thursday afternoon evacuees from Peeples Valley just 3 miles north of Yarnell were allowed back to their homes. Later in the evening the containment had reached 80%.
By now anxious homeowners had been made aware if they still had a home to return to. Yet Yarnell residents remained under evacuation orders while utilities and infrastructures were checked for safety. Because of the bouldered terrain hot spots could linger.
Photo taken by a Fire Information Officer on 7/3/13
Making repairs
On Friday APS began installing power poles and restringing lines. As part of the recovery, portable toilets will be installed in Yarnell, along with trash dumpsters to help with the cleanup. Rakes, shovels and other tools will also be available to residents. By evening the Yarnell Hill Fire was reported at 90% containment.
The aftermath
Friends who made it safely to Wickenburg 30 miles to the south recently discovered their homes were lost while others were luckier. There is talk of rebuilding but right now is a time to find more than a hotel room to live in, some place to rent not too far away.
The evacuation is being lifted at 9am Monday.
I both want to see, and not see, what is left of our neighborhood.
Yarnell is a small and friendly community of about 600 people where the 80 year-olds take care of the 90 year-olds, the 70 year-olds take care of the 80 year-olds and the 60 year-olds take care of the 70 year-olds . It’s primarily a retirement community with so few children the school was closed. The business community is made up of one grocery store, two restaurants and several antique and second hand stores. A town that not many had heard of may be remembered as where 19 brave firefighters perished.
Fire is a natural part of the environment but these mountains hadn’t burned in 40 years. Massive buildup of dead fuel combined with long term drought, excessively high temperatures and powerful winds allow monsoon lightning to set the land a blaze.
Yet from the ashes rises the Phoenix of new birth. By no later than spring green shoots and buds will show their colorful blooms.
I followed this story online from my summer base at Grand Canyon’s North Rim because Yarnell is my home town and many of my dearest friends live there. If I got some of the facts wrong I apologize. This has been a most difficult time.
People have pulled together and made donations for the firefighter families and residents.
Sites with fire information:
https://www.facebook.com/YarnellHillFire Yarnell Hill Fire Official Information
https://www.facebook.com/GraniteMountainHotshotsMemorial Official website for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Incident Management Team
http://www.100club.org/web/100Club https://www.facebook.com/100Club Providing support to public safety for over 40 years
http://yarnellfallenfirefighters.com/ The official team website
http://www.wffoundation.org/ Provide emotional and financial assistance to firefighters and their families
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3461/ Incident Information System
https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php American Red Cross safe and well program
Media sites followed:
Sending out help:
As of this posting 8400 acres burned at 90% containment with diminishing amounts of creeping and smoldering.
A very, very sad day, just reading this makes me cry so I have some idea how you must feel. Take care and stay safe. Diane
It really is a sad, and needless story.
Out of respect for those that passed I have tried to not say too much …but….I don’t know why they say Friday night even. From our front porch in Congress we had front row seats….on Thursday evening we saw lightening strike the ridge….there was smoke Friday morning when we woke up. With our multi-million dollar BLM fire station a mile down the road we thought for sure it would be taken care of. All day Friday and Sat my husband and I kept looking at each other asking “When in the world is someone going to do something”?….And then finally they decide to send in 20 young men…most of them kids really. They never ever should have been sent in there….they knew a storm was most likely to come up. This all sounds so harsh but yesterday we stood on the highway while 19 white hearses drove by….I truly think the saddest thing I ever saw in my life! For what? Firefighting has become a big business nowadays ….so while the powers to be jockeyed for position we lost 19 young men…
I am truly saddened by the loss of these firefighters. But I think BLM really dropped the ball on this one and hope that shows up in the investigation.
My friends living in Yarnell have never mentioned a Thurs strike, only late Friday. Don’t suppose the powers to be were already on their weekend off?
Gaelyn…the reason I know there was smoke Friday morning is because I had an appointment in Wickenburg for therapy on my back. As the girl was working on my back she asked me what was going on. I said “Well…seems as if we have a fire going on the ridge of Yarnell Hill….we can see lots of smoke coming over the ridge.” My appointment was Friday at 11:00 am. When I went back in for therapy the following Tuesday the therapist said “You sure were right about the fire”….so I know it started at least beforeFriday morning. We saw lightening strike the ridge Thursday evening. Now there might have been another strike Friday evening but….they definitely had smoke on Friday morning on the ridge….I wish someone would ask about that. Finally the people were able to get back in Yarnell….they are the ones that need help right now. It seems like they have been kind of forgotten to me. They are supposed to open it up to non-residents by Sat…we hope to go up and see what we can do.
That’s very interesting as nothing has been mentioned about fire on Thursday. Berta went up Monday and her house is only a stone foundation and mess. My tin shed still stands but inside was vaporized. I’m in Flagstaff tonight and head to Yarnell in the morning. Main road is suppose to be open by then but no access to neighborhoods unless you live there. I’ll be posting again soon about what I see.
If Berta needs a place to stay for a bit we have a little guesthouse…for you too if you need a place to stay while you are here…..molliedog1@msn.com
Thank you for this offer. Berta has found a house to rent in Yarnell.
Gaelyn, I am just so horrified by this story and have been following it. Such a loss of life…Sending thoughts and prayers to those in Yarnell.
Thank you Cheryl Ann, the people of Yarnell need all the help they can get.
I am still not sure what happened and why but am really saddened by the loss of life. Hopefully a meaningful investigation will result in information that will prevent such a loss of life in the future.
Yes, with all this modern technology I sure hope this doesn’t happen again. I know fire will occur but hopefully not this terrible loss of life.
Chuck and I had just left Paulden AZ, headed down to Prescott from there to Verde Valley. En route several Hot Shot crews passed us. We had never seen a Hot Shots vehicle before and Chuck and I were impressed. Little did we know they were headed to the Yarnell Fire that day. They were all so young and brave and far too young to leave their lives behind! We have been following it on the news, but Gaelyn, you have shown us a dark side to this story the news has not told. Thank you for Sharing!
I truly am devastated by the loss of these young men. Yet believe they died needlessly.
My heart aches for you all!! I cry too and I am in NH!! I am sending all good thoughts, wishes and prayers for Yarnell and those lost firefighters.
Thank you Melissa. These are sad days indeed.
I’m so sorry. I’ve seen the flames and I’ve seen the effects of wildfires, so I have, in a small way, a sense of what it’s like. Luckily in the last bad ones here no-one was injured seriously, at least physically. We shouldn’t under-estimate the damage to heart and mind. If there is fault it should be made public and dealt with so that this doesn’t happen again. Rumor here has it that someone started a garden bonfire, which precipitated the worst fire on the western side of the island, but the village in which he lives has closed ranks around him and no-one will “tell.” That is so ignorant and stupid and selfish. If that is true, in this case, the guy needs to be punished so that in future folk will think twice about how what they do affects others.
I truly dislike placing blame, as we do far too frequently, but we do need to know why this happened so it doesn’t happen again. I do believe in accountability.
As others, I feel great sorry for the people of Yarnell and the lives that were lost. I wish those who suffered loss peace and the spirit from within to rise again from the ashes.
I’m thinking of you Gaelyn…
Thanks Cheryl.
Interesting but sad story. Thanks for telling us what really happened.
The truth needs to come out.
I sure hope this is not a national Forest Service directive to let nature take its course. So many times, political directives get in the way of life. Any let-burn policy on nature-caused fires does not take into account human losses.
I hope this is not what comes out from the investigation on the handling of the fire.
I do understand some let it burn policies but truly believe that shouldn’t happen if human life and homes are involved.
Gaelyn you have done just a superb job of the details and timeline and information on this fire. Thank you SO much. It is heartbreaking to realize that some sort of bureaucracy may have been at fault here. I am just so sad about all of this loss. It is hard to comprehend. Thank you again so much. My heart goes out to you and everyone there.
This occurrence is so close to my heart. I almost obsessively followed the news. So many dear friends live in Yarnell. Thank you.
This is truly a sad time for all involved.
In 1994, some of my dearest friends watched anxiously, from their front porch just off Canyon Creek Road, as the fire on Storm King Mountain just west of Glenwood Springs began to rage. Their home was spared but the lives of 14 firefighters were not. The whole state of Colorado grieved the lives of those firefighters…some of us still grieve. The fire wasn’t done though even though it had long been extinguished. The next summer, June of 1995, one of my best friends in the world, died as he drove down Canyon Creek Road toward the interstate and into town. An old tree, a tree whose roots had been loosened from the earth by the firefighting efforts the year before, chose the exact moment Jeff drove past to fall in a cracking groan onto his car, crushing him. One final victim of one of the most devastating fires in terms of the loss of life in Colorado history. The Yarnell fire brings up too many memories of the summers of 1994 and 1995 for me. And I’m devastated on so many levels once again. I guess I’m telling you all of this because you too are my dear friend and while I understand why you are going to help, please be careful today, tomorrow, next week, and next year.
Thank you for sharing this story Jane. I know I’m not the only one to suffer from the consequences of fire and am grieved for you and friends as well. I have been through disasters before. I will be careful but am not sure there is much I can do to help in Yarnell. I’m not physically able to do much sifting in unsafe environments.
Looking at all that one can’t help but be speechless. I often wonder why, when a fire breaks out doesn’t matter how small it is, the authoroties don’t move in and stop it rather than say that they are observing it. Cause often when observing it it gets out of control and this can happen.
I understand letting fire burn in a natural area as part of nature but not so close to homes.
I fully agree with what Sherry says. This is so sad, because the damage could have been avoided or at least limited. You’re right in saying that for most of us, Yarnell will be the place where 19 young lives were taken….
I feel very confused and frustrated right now about this whole thing. And all I lost was a shed full of memories, not my home.
Gaelyn, thanks for documenting this story. Its so sad to loose those dedicated young folks.
My summer base camp is in South Fork, Colorado and we just went thru a wildfire also, but thankfully with much better outcome. We watched a lightning started 20 acre fire in the wilderness area grow into a 110,000 acre monster that almost burned down our whole town and surrounding homes. The National Forest Service watched it burn and grow, with no action as long as it remained in the wilderness area. But as soon as it crossed the Continental Divide near Wolf Creek Pass, it became clear it was headed directly to South Fork at times moving 2 miles an hour. The locals & visitors, including 500 RV’ers in local campgrounds had about an hour to evacuate. As the fire got within 2 miles of South Fork, a combination of a shift in winds, a large stand of green aspens and some divine intervention, turned the fire to the north and it bypassed town and all its homes & businesses. Thanks to the hard work & dedication of 1500 professional fire fighters, we have not lost a structure or a life. Our fire was complicated by the forest containing 70-90% beetle killed spruce trees, that have been sitting there waiting for a spark to ignite an inferno. After a month of burning, they are just now claiming 20% containment. We’ll always have wildfires in the west, but back when we actually managed our forests and allowed logging to thin them out and remove underbrush and deadfall, the fires were usually smaller and easier to control.
Best wishes to you and Yarnell
Jim, This is horrific. It’s really too bad we can’t manage public lands better. Some areas really need to see fire and/or thinning. Sure would put a lot of people to work.
We didn’t hear about the fire here in IL until the 19 firefighters were killed; then it was on the news. I was happy to get a local’s snapshot of all that happened. Also, thank you for providing all of the site links.
I was OCD about following the news reports during the fire so not sure I believe everything I read or wrote. In Flagstaff tonight and head to Yarnell in the morning.
How awful Gaelyn and so very, very sad. A great post and pictures.
Gaelyn, I was heartbroken when I first heard of this and it still breaks my heart. If anything could have been done to stop this tragedy, it should have. I cannot even imagine what it will be like for you to “go home” this winter. I pray for all those affected by this sad and tragic event. Yarnell sounds like a wonderful little town. I love small town america. Thanks for putting together this article with all this information. Well done. Sending you hugs as well.
However tragic Yarnell will rise from the ashes. It’s really still a beautiful place.
I feel very conflicted about it all, too. The loss of life is so much more tragic and will always overshadow all the other losses in Yarnell and, yet, to lose one’s home, possessions, entire look of a town, is also very, very horrific. I immediately gave a donation to 100 Club for the firefighters’ families yet I held some back because I also want to give directly to Yarnell…and the Shrine…and don’t want it all funneled into the same fund somehow so I’m biding my time with that. Yarnell, the town, needs help, too. The firefighters are forever lost and their families forever impacted but Yarnell itself also needs help.
No home or stuff was worth the loss of life yet sadly when life goes on we miss those little things.
BLM is directly responsible for the deaths of the 19 firefighters, period. They prevented anyone from fighting the fire until is was completely out of control?
Incompetence? Or something else?
If I were one of the dead 19’s families, I would be going after the head BLM person (or persons) responsible for the area full-bore. That SOB has to be held accountable for what happened.
I agree about BLM being responsible, or actually irresponsible. Then figure the fire started on a Friday night when there was probably no one of authority working. And if they followed protocol, then protocol needs to be changed.