Nineteen members of an elite team called Hotshots(快车). The Granite Mountain Hotshots based in Prescott, Arizona. Every member of that team but one perished. It is the deadliest single day that fire fighters and their loved ones have endured since 9/11. More on how it came to this terrible day from our Kyung Lah. 

 

It began as a simple ordinary act of nature in the high desert. A lightning strike at 5:36 Friday evening, igniting an 800-acre blaze. There were twin problems - scorching heat and low humidity. With that combination the fire exploded into a monster, devouring acres that had not burned in 40 years. 

 

First a few dozen homes. Then 200 scorched. Fire fighters across the region including the Hotshots from Station 7 of Prescott, located 30 miles away jumped into action. The Hotshots, a team of 20 sent into the heart of the fire, to cut a line on the eastern flank and save other homes. 

 

They're highly trained, highly skilled, their situational awareness is very high. For this crew, it's very difficult to imagine what happened. 

 

It was Sunday afternoon, the Hotshot crew was behind the fire line when like most afternoons a thunderstorm blew in. But this one was different, it packed what the fire department calls monsoon winds. And the crew was trapped on the wrong side of them. 

 

Late in the day, a thunderstorm developed over Prescott, and the wind shifted 180 degrees on these firefighters and 40 to 50 mile per hour gusts. Instead of staying out of the way, the fire blew right toward them. 

 

The Hotshots drilled for such a disaster. In this training video, they show how to deploy the fire shelter, a protective shield, a last resort move. They dove under the shelters, but it wasn't enough to save them from the ferocious wildfire. All but one were killed. The remains of 19 bodies found. Some still in their shelters. 

 

We've lost 19 of our family members. It's a nightmare right now. 

 

Nineteen heroes between the ages of 21 and 43 taken from the charred fields they tried to extinguish in a caravan of white vans. People lining the streets here and mourners lining the gate of Station 7 with flags and flowers. The Hotshot team's cars still parked where they pulled in(进站；靠岸) three days ago. Their families retrieving the uniforms of their fallen loved ones, wives widowed in an instant.