inch of precipitation since early February, the sun had been sucking out every drop of moisture from an already parched landscape, leaving grassy wildlands mottled by developments and dry scub. The area hadn’t seen a major burn in more than 40 years. That was about to drastically change.

The dry heat compounded the task set before the two dozen or so wildland firefighters that had been called out to help control a fire started by a lightning strike on the evening of Friday, June 28. Because it was dark and not easy to reach, an Arizona Forestry Division commander decided against trying to put out the less than an acre fire that evening. The next day, six inmates from a state prison were helicoptered to the fire that wasdancing atop a mountain ridge cluttered with granite boulders and thick chaparral scrub. By noon, the fire was still less than eight acres.

More firefighters were called in, and by mid afternoon, the state commander, thinking the fire was contained, began releasing crews and equipment. But late afternoon, winds fanned the flames, and by early evening the fire was burning out of control in the scrubby, hilly rangeland 32 miles southwest of Prescott, Arizona.

In 36 hours the flames had gone from a small brush fire to more than 500 acres that threatened hundreds of people who lived in the scattered homes and villages of Yarnell, Peeples Valley and Glen Ilah. By late Saturday night, the state called in additional reinforcements, including two of the nation’s 110 Interagency Hotshot Crews,