YARNELL, Ariz., June 9 (UPI) -- Hundreds of residents in central Arizona were evacuated in a 400-acre fire burning near an area where 19 firefighters died in 2013.
Some 250 homes have been evacuated as of early Thursday, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said. The blaze, called the Tenderfoot Fire, was burning off State Route 89. There have been no injuries but at least one shed and several cell phone towers have been destroyed.
The blaze, driven by gusty winds, has consumed about 700 acres. Air tankers with fire retardant and ground crews were working to keep the flames at bay.
The fire was located less than a mile from Yarnell, located about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix. It is the same area where 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a specialized firefighting crew for wildfires, died.
They were killed June 30, 2013, when they were trapped by flames in a canyon area.
The fire, started by a lightning strike, also destroyed about 500 homes and consumed some 8,000 acres.
