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                 19 Firefighters Die Battling Arizona Wildfire

   by VOA News

   U.S. officials say a team of 19 firefighters died Sunday while battling
   an Arizona wildfire.
   The fast-moving fire near the small town of Yarnell, about 130
   kilometers northwest of Phoenix, has burned as many as 800 hectares
   since Friday and destroyed several buildings.
   The United States Wildland Firefighters Association confirmed the
   deaths on its Facebook page.  A state forestry official, Art Morrison,
   told CNN the firefighters were an elite "hot shot" crew.  He said it
   appeared the fire overtook them and by the time other firefighters
   reached them they had been killed.
   More than 200 firefighters are battling the fire.
   Authorities had ordered the evacuation of Yarnell and another nearby
   town with reverse 911 emergency phone calls and door-to-door alerts by
   authorities.
   Arizona, and the neighboring western states of California and Nevada
   are in the middle of an extreme heat wave.  Temperatures reached record
   highs Saturday, and excessive heat warnings are in effect across the
   region.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/arizona-wildfire/1692454.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/arizona-wildfire/1692454.html