Why Did Deployment Shelters Not Work For Granite Mountain Hotshots

It took a dps helicopter crew nearly 40 minutes to find the site where the men perished partly because thick smoke complicated the search.

Why did deployment shelters not work for granite mountain hotshots. The deaths of the granite mountain hotshots marked the nation s biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years. Part i of 2 prescott fire department wildlands divsion chief darrell willis discusses what might have happened to the 19 member granite mountain hotshot fire. America s elite firefighters 20 photos ariz. Soon after that they headed downhill into a narrow box canyon that was smothered with dense 10 foot high chaparral.

The deployment of shelters occurred in a granite boulder field at the base of a very. The two state investigations into the deaths of 19 members of the granite mountain hotshots released to the public in 2013 did not include the complete autopsy and toxicology reports of the men who were killed on june 30 2013 in the yarnell hill fire. At 4 04 pm the granite mountain hotshots were still on the ridge above glen ilah. The yarnell hill fire was a wildfire near yarnell arizona ignited by dry lightning on june 28 2013 on june 30 it overran and killed 19 members of the granite mountain hotshots just one of the hotshots on the crew survived he was posted as a lookout on the fire and was not with the others when the fire overtook them.

Travis turbyfill 27 was a granite mountain hotshot crew member from prescott ariz. Dps records reveal that no one was quite sure where the granite mountain hotshots were located when they sent out frantic radio calls about 4 47 p m moments before they deployed their shelters. The largest remaining question about the yarnell hill fire that killed 19 members of the granite mountain hotshot crew in 2013 south of prescott arizona is why the crew left the safety of a. Like his fellow crew members he died after he was fully in his fire shelter.

Firefighers found dead.