Yarnell Hill Fire
| Yarnell Hill Fire | |
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| Location | Yarnell, Yavapai County, Arizona |
| Coordinates | 34°14′54″N 112°45′29″W / 34.24833°N 112.75806°WCoordinates: 34°14′54″N 112°45′29″W / 34.24833°N 112.75806°W |
| Statistics | |
| Date(s) | June 28, 2013 – July 10, 2013 |
| Burned area | 8,400 acres (34 km2) |
| Cause | Lightning |
| Buildings destroyed |
129 |
| Injuries | 23 |
| Fatalities | 19 |
| Map | |
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The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 City of Prescott firefighters, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. This event resulted in the highest wildland firefighter death toll in the United States since the 1933 Griffith Park Fire killed 29 firefighters, and the highest death toll from any U.S. wildfire since the 1991 East Bay Hills fire killed 25 people. It is the sixth-deadliest American firefighter disaster overall and the deadliest wildfire ever in Arizona.
At 5:36 p.m. MST (23:36 UTC) on June 28, 2013, lightning ignited a wildfire on BLM lands near Yarnell, Arizona, a town of approximately 700 residents about eighty miles northwest of Phoenix. On June 30, strong winds reaching more than 22 mph (35 km/h), pushed the fire from 300 acres (120 ha) to over 2,000 acres (810 ha). A long-term drought affecting the area contributed to the fire's rapid spread and erratic behavior, as did temperatures of 101 °F (38 °C).
By July 1 the fire had grown to over 8,300 acres (3,400 ha) and prompted the evacuation of the nearby community of Peeples Valley. The fire was still completely uncontrolled, with more than 400 firefighters on the line. On July 2 the fire was estimated at 8 percent containment and had not grown in the past 24 hours. By the end of the day on July 3, the fire was reportedly 45 percent contained and not growing thus allowing Peeples Valley residents to return to their homes on July 4. Four days later on July 8 residents of Yarnell were permitted to return. The fire was declared 100 percent contained on July 10.
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said that 127 buildings in Yarnell and two in Peeples Valley had been destroyed. A "flash point" of the fire was the Glen Ilah neighborhood of Yarnell where fewer than half of the structures were burned.
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