Arizona Wildfire: Hundreds Evacuated from Yarnell, Where 2013 Blaze Killed 19 Firefighters

An Arizona wildfire has forced hundreds to evacuate from the town of Yarnell - where a blaze in 2013 killed 19 members of an elite firefighting crew.

“Right now, here we are three years later doing the same thing,” KPNX quoted Yarnell resident Patrick Bernard, who helped people evacuate during the 2013 blaze. “ It’s surreal.”

Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Dolores Garcia said 250 to 300 people left their homes in the town, about 60 miles northeast of Phoenix.

(Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier via AP)

“Right now as we speak the fire is coming down over the mountain right in front of me,” Bernard told KPNX. “There’s a lot of smoke on the east side and it’s burning the top of the mountain right now. It’s coming across the east line of Yarnell, burning across the edge of those houses. And there’s helicopters dropping water.”