The Arizona State Forestry Division (ASFC) has posted on YouTube 21 videos recorded during the Yarnell Hill Fire The state received them on November 7, 2014 through a Freedom of Information Act request to the US Forest Service. The ASFD explained that “the videos are presented exactly as they have been received. The redactions were done before these videos came into the possession of Arizona State Forestry.”
On June 30, 2013 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots became entrapped by fire and died on the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona.
In portions of some of the videos, you can hear and at times understand radio conversations and firefighters near the cameras.
Below are links to the videos in the order that they were listed on the ASFD website. We embedded seven of them below the links with the corresponding video number. Like the ASFD said, the USFS provided absolutely no information about the videos, but they appear to be roughly in chronological order — this is not yet confirmed, however.
0630131532
0630131533
0630131534
M2U00261
M2U00262
M2U00263
M2U00264
M2U00265 We posted a version of this video on YouTube on December 13, 2013, but this one is higher quality and is about twice as long as the earlier edition. You can hear the radio traffic from the Granite Mountain Hotshots saying they are deploying their fire shelters.
M2U00266R — Firefighters discussing the radio traffic they heard earlier about the Granite Mountain Hotshots deploying fire shelters.
M2U00267 — Firefighters in an urban-interface area with scattered active fire. At 1:21 you can see what appears to be a propane tank venting, with the escaping gas burning.
M2U00268 — Shot from an ATV. Active fire can be seen at times.
M2U00269
M2U00270
M2U00271
M2U00272 — Firefighters near an ATV with active fire in the area.
M2U00273R — Shot from an ATV while travelling on a dirt road. It is possible that they are on a rescue mission to find the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
M2U00274
M2U00275
M2U00276R — Most of this video appeared to be shot from an ATV while it was traveling along a rough road, but at about 3:20 you can hear Blue Ridge, another hotshot crew on the fire, saying “18 confirmed”.
