By Jim Walsh, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, JJ Hensley and D.S. Woodfill The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Jul 4, 2013 10:42 PM
As some evacuees began to return to their homes and firefighters gained more control over the deadly Yarnell Hill Fire on Thursday, authorities in Maricopa County released preliminary autopsy reports on the 19 fallen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
All died of fire-related injuries, generally consisting of two aspects: burns to the body and inhalation problems that can include carbon-monoxide poisoning or a lack of oxygen, said Cari Gerchick, a Maricopa County spokeswoman.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office completed the examinations on Wednesday, and the firefighters’ families were notified.
Meanwhile, firefighters expected to have the Yarnell Hill Fire largely contained on Thursday evening, though thunderstorms and another lightning strike remained threats. The fire has been largely reduced to hot spots after burning 8,400acres.
Operations section chief Carl Schwope said he expected the fire to be 85 percent contained on Thursday, with full containment “sometime before July 12.”
Fire crews reduced the number of helicopters used to fight the blaze to four, with two being used for rescues and support only, as 676 firefighters continued to put out spot fires on the ground.
The blaze had abated enough that the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office lifted the evacuation of Peeples Valley, on the northern end of the Yarnell Hill Fire, at 6:30p.m. Thursday, though some residents said they would remain in shelters for another night and return home in the morning.
Yarnell residents remain under an evacuation order.
Two structures were damaged in Peeples Valley, while 127 were lost in Yarnell. Crews are still working to restore power in Yarnell and are hopeful residents can return to that area by Saturday.
Peeples Valley resident Cindy Carrillo, 55, said she left her home in such a hurry that she did not have time to grab her cellphone or a belt.
“My britches were falling off,” Carrillo said. An animal shelter near where she was staying lent her a leash to use as a belt.
She has been at a Red Cross shelter since Monday morning, but on Thursday afternoon, she was conflicted about returning home.
Sheriff’s officials expressed concerns that some residents of Yarnell and Peeples Valley who refused to evacuate could have been killed, but they quickly added that they have no evidence of additional deaths.
Tours behind firelines showed an erratic fire pattern fueled by high winds, with some houses spared and others torched.
John Russell, chief deputy of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies have compiled a list of structures damaged in the fire but have been unable to go house to house to check on residents because of the fire’s heat.
Aerial images show damage on the west side of the boulder-strewn community on the lower heights of the surrounding mountains. Some homes and other buildings were burned to the ground, while others nearby appeared to be untouched.
The Shrine of St. Joseph, a popular attraction in Yarnell, was partially damaged. A chapel appeared to be intact, but buildings used as a retreat center were burned. Some of the shrine’s concrete statues were visible from overhead, but others were obscured by trees.
Yarnell, a hamlet of fewer than 700 people, most of them 45 and older, has been evacuated since Sunday, the day 19 firefighters were killed in a flashover as they tried to protect the community, about 30miles southwest of Prescott.
Log entries indicate that the Arizona State Forestry Division’s dispatch center on Pinnacle Peak Road in Phoenix was notified shortly before 5p.m. Sunday that the firefighters had deployed their fire shelters in an effort to save themselves.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety crew flew to the site, and a medic hiked to their location on Sunday evening, confirming that all 19 had died.
A team of state and federal experts is continuing its investigation into the deaths and is expected to produce a preliminary report on its findings within 60days.
The bodies of the 19 fallen firefighters were driven to Phoenix in a solemn motorcade on Monday, the morning after the Yarnell Hill Fire overtook them during heavy winds. The Yavapai County medical examiner did not have adequate facilities to conduct the large-scale examination.
The autopsy findings released Thursday are preliminary, with a full autopsy report on each firefighter expected to be released when completed within a couple of months, Gerchick said.
The office worked this week to collect scientific evidence that investigators need to complete the reports and to release the firefighters’ bodies back to their families as quickly as possible, she said.
“That allows for the death certificates to be signed and for the families to bury their loved ones,” she said.
Republic reporters Anne Ryman, Peter Corbett, Jim Walsh, D.S. Woodfill, Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Amy B Wang contributed to this article.
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Editor’s note: New details have emerged since this story was originally published. For the latest information and complete coverage on the fire that killed 19 firefighters and destroyed more than 100 homes, visit yarnell.azcentral.com.
