Arizona inferno: 19 firefighters killed, town evacuated, 500 homes destroyed.

Arizona inferno: 19 firefighters killed, town evacuated, 500 homes destroyed.HT: RussiaToday.

An estimated 500 homes have been destroyed by the ongoing fire that is currently covering more than 2,000 acres. Wickenburg Community Hospital is treating at least eight firefighters who were among 22 injured in the line of duty.

"It has been confirmed that 19 wildland firefighters have lost their lives on the Yarnell Hill fire Arizona," the US Wildland Fire Aviation said in a statement, Reuters reports.

TRUE HEROES! PHOTO FROM THE 19 PRESCOTT FIREFIGHTERS IN BETTER DAYS. 'THOUGHTS & PRAYERS TO THEIR FAMILIES'. DCOURIER http://t.co/pcMw5mvpEa
— 911 Operator (@911BUFF) July 1, 2013

Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman, Mike Reichling, said the fire is quickly reaching “Type 1” status. It is estimated that two hundred firefighters are now battling the flames. Federal authorities are expected to arrive with additional force to help tackle the disaster. Reichling expects manpower to reach about 400 people and involve numerous water carrying aircrafts

About 250 firefighters, including two Type 2 crews, three Type 1 crews, and four engines, were on the scene, Reichling said. Three Type 1 crews, seven helicopters, two air tankers, four single engine air tankers, and multiple engines and air tankers were ordered. 

Earlier Sunday, 50 homes in the Buckhorn, Model Creek and Double A Bar Ranch areas some 85 miles from Phoenix were ordered to evacuate. By afternoon the evacuation order  included residents in the Peeples Valley area and in the town of Yarnell.

The natural disaster also shut down state Route 89, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced.

The Red Cross has opened a shelter at Yavapai College in Prescott, the sheriff's office said.

The blaze erupted first on Friday but rapidly spread on Sunday as the area was hit by unfavorable weather conditions.

Update:
YARNELL, Ariz. — Gusty hot winds blew an Arizona wildfire out of control on Sunday, overtaking and killing 19 elite firefighters in the deadliest wildfire involving firefighters in the U.S. for at least 30 years.

The specially trained "hotshot" firefighters were forced to deploy their fire shelters — tent-like structures meant to shield firefighters from flames and heat — when they were caught near the central Arizona town of Yarnell, state forestry spokesman Art Morrison told The Associated Press. 

Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo also said that 19 firefighters had been killed by the fire. "The entire hot shot crew had been killed by the fire," he said. He said that the firefighters had to deploy the emergency shelters when "something drastic happened." The crew killed in the blaze had worked other wildfires in recent weeks in New Mexico and Arizona. The unit was established in 2002.
Hmmmm........

Forest Fires an Act of Jihad- Fresh From ‘Inspire’, Al-Qaeda’s English Language Online Magazine.

This is not a land management issue. It is a national security issue. As is securing the border and more vigilant monitoring of suspicious, profiled individuals. Yes, I said it profiled individuals -not every living, breathing American citizen.