14 DAY TRIAL // The U.S. Wildland Fire Aviation service has alerted the media about several members of its fire brigade perishing in a fire over the weekend. 19 firefighters have been killed in a wildfire in Arizona on Sunday, reports say.
"It has been confirmed that 19 wildland firefighters have lost their lives on the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona," an Aviation service rep said in a statement on Facebook.
The agency is asking for "prayers for the families and friends of these brave men and women," the Chicago Tribune writes.
The wildfire started spreading from Yarnell, 90 miles (145 km) from Phoenix on Friday. Authorities believe that it began with a lightning strike. By Sunday, it had already spread on a 2,000-acre (809-hectare) area.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo mentioned at a press conference that the 19 fire department agents were part of the Prescott Granite Mountain Hot Shots team.
"We grieve for the family. We grieve for the department. We grieve for the city. [...] We're devastated. We just lost 19 of some of the finest people you'll ever meet.
"By the time they got there, it was moving very quickly," Fraijo explains, as relayed in a report by ABC News.
The team was sent out with 20 firefighters, and Fraijo reports that one member of the team has survived.
Fire Critic added that all the victims were male firefighters. Their families are still being notified of their demise.
"They're not the people that have engine companies and large trucks. These are the core of firefighting where they're right there in the middle of the incident.
"We have fires throughout the state right now. We have the winds that change. That's what happened today and caused this tragedy," Fraijo says.