Published Saturday, September 28, 2013
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — An investigation into the June deaths of 19 firefighters killed while battling an Arizona blaze has found improperly programmed radios, vague updates, and a 30 minute communication blackout just before the flames engulfed the men.
The report says at the moment the firefighters were killed, an air tanker carrying fire retardant was hovering overhead, waiting for an update about their location.
The Arizona State Forestry Division presented the roughly 120-page report to the men's families ahead of a news conference Saturday morning in Prescott.
All but one member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew died June 30 while protecting the small former gold rush town of Yarnell, about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, from an erratic lightning-sparked wildfire.
