11:34
Tieng Anh Vui
In addition to the 19 dead, scores of homes have been destroyed and hundreds of residents evacuated
An Arizona town is mourning 19 firefighters killed on Sunday battling an out-of-control wildfire about 80 miles (130km) north-west of Phoenix.
Residents of Prescott, where the crew was based, said they were numb and shaken by the loss of firefighters from an elite "hotshots" wildfire unit.
And President Barack Obama said he was "heartbroken" and called the deceased firefighters "heroes".
It is the highest death toll for a fire crew in a single incident since 9/11.
The fire was sparked by lightning on Friday and has spread rapidly amid high heat, low humidity and strong winds.
During a press conference in Tanzania on Monday, Mr Obama said the thoughts and prayers of the US were with the firefighters' families.
"They were heroes - highly-skilled professionals who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm's way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet," the US president said in an earlier statement.
'It's my community'
As the sun rose in the smoke-clouded sky on Monday, residents of Prescott, Arizona, placed flowers and signs on a fence near the fire station.
Analysis
Fires in the US have increased four-fold over the previous 15 years, according to a 2006 study published in Nature. More alarmingly, the average size of fires increased six-fold.
The reason is a deadly combination: a drier climate, the rapid growth in people choosing to live in forested areas in the western US, and less management of forests - partly because of cuts in federal funding. All this coupled with the spread of mountain pine beetle, which has killed millions of trees, is turning America's forests into tinderboxes.
Apart from the fires, there's now growing concern about heat waves' effect on health. At these temperatures it's not just the elderly and ill that are at risk. Young healthy individuals are also more likely to have heart and breathing problems - and experience suggests that it's possible that hundreds may die if the stifling conditions are sustained.
"I had to come here," Toby Smith said. "This is my community. This is my family and I felt the immediate need when I heard the news to get up to come down here to see what I can do no matter what it is."
Orya Salverg said she was leaving flowers in tribute "for everything" the fire crew had done.
"They go all over the country trying to save people's lives. I knew some of these people... it's the least I could do."
On Monday, Prescott, Arizona, fire department confirmed to the BBC that 19 of its firefighters were killed in the blaze in circumstances that remain unclear.
The crew, an elite unit called the Granite Mountain Hotshots, had battled other wildfires in New Mexico and Arizona in recent weeks, officials say.
As they became surrounded by flames, the firefighters were forced to take shelter in emergency tent-like structures, said Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo.
US wildfire deaths
- 3 Oct 1933: At least 25 firemen killed at a blaze in Griffith Park, Los Angeles
- 21 Aug 1937: Fifteen firefighters die in Blackwater fire in Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming
- 5 Aug 1949: Twelve parachute firefighters and a forest ranger killed by Mann Gulch fire near Helena, in the state of Montana
- 9 July 1953: Rattlesnake fire in Mendocino National Forest, southern California, kills 15 firefighters
- 6 July 1994: Fourteen firefighters killed in lightning-induced Storm King Mountain blaze near Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Source: US National Fire Protection Association
"One of the last fail-safe methods a firefighter can do is literally to dig as much as they can down and cover themselves with a protective fire-resistant material, with the hope that the fire will burn over the top of them and they can survive it," he said.
"Under certain conditions there's usually only sometimes a 50% chance that they survive. It's an extreme measure that's taken under the absolute worst conditions."
Dwight Devlin from the Arizona Sheriff's Office told the BBC that the firefighters were carrying fire blankets but they were ineffective in this case.
"Some were actually found with those blankets over them but unfortunately it appears the flames and the heat were too much," he said.
Mr Devlin added that they were on their way on foot to an area where they had been directed to clear brush to prevent the spread of the fire.
The tragedy is the worst in a wildfire since 1933, when at least 25 firemen died battling a fire in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.
"This is as dark a day as I can remember," Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said on Monday.
Homes destroyed
Some 250 firefighters are still battling the fast-moving wildfire. Eighteen total hotshot crews have been deployed to the fire, which is entirely uncontained.
Fire chief Dan Fraijo: "They were the finest most dedicated people"
The blaze has forced the evacuation of local residents.
An estimated 200 homes were destroyed in Yarnell, the Associated Press reported, about half the properties in the town.
In recent days, dozens of people across western US states have been treated for exhaustion and dehydration, as a heat wave continues.
Temperatures in some areas were expected to reach 54C (130F), close to the world's all-time high recorded 100 years ago in California's Death Valley.
How wildfires spread
- A fire needs fuel, oxygen and heat to burn. The fire threatening the town of Yarnell was started by lightning and spread rapidly in the very hot, dry conditions, fanned by strong winds
- The fastest-moving and most dangerous part of the fire is known as the "head". Areas ahead of the fire are warmed as it approaches and flying embers blown by the wind spark spot fires, which cause it to leap further ahead
- Some vegetation or fuel will burn quicker than others and this creates "fingers" of flame which, in turn, create pockets of land surrounded by fire, making it harder to tackle
- Fires travel faster uphill than downhill, as the heat and smoke rise, heating areas higher up the hill and wind currents also tend to blow uphill, pushing the flames further. Burning embers may roll downhill, starting new fires
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
Posted in: 
0 comments:
Post a Comment