Flags ordered to half-staff in Arizona to honor Granite Mountain Hotshots

Gov. Katie Hobbs ordered flags at all state buildings be lowered to half-staff on Tuesday in honor of the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew who died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013.

The remembrance comes days after a wildfire along the Colorado-Utah border killed three firefighters on Saturday, one of the deadliest incidents for U.S. firefighters since the Yarnell Hill disaster 13 years ago.

“We recognize and honor the sacrifice and bravery of the Granite Mountain Hotshots,” Hobbs said in a statement. “This will always be a day we mark with mourning, reflection and deep admiration.”

The 19 hotshots died after being overtaken by flames fanned by shifting winds in a brushy box canyon about 30 miles southwest of Prescott. Temperatures reached 2,000 degrees. The crew had deployed fire shelters, small, heat-resistant tents used as a last resort, but could not survive the conditions.

It remains the deadliest event for U.S. firefighters since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Arizona State Parks is hosting a remembrance event Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. in downtown Yarnell.

Flags are to fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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