ArizonaCentral.com has obtained copies of reports written by an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter crew which provide information about the last radio transmissions from the Granite Mountain Hotshots before the Hotshots were entrapped and killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire June 30 in Arizona.

According to the report, at 4:30 p.m. the crew was in a previously burned area, in the black, moving to Yarnell.

Below is an excerpt from the article about what happened next:

“…A short time later [someone on the crew] came back up on the radio advising they were heading to a ranch they had in sight,” the report reads. “It was shortly after that (a crew member) came back up on the radio sounding excited, out of breath.” The records indicate the hotshot repeatedly tried to contact Air Attack, circling the fire, with no response.

Commanders coordinating the aerial attack on the fire offered a direct reply shortly after, according to other members of the DPS crew.

“Whoever is yelling on the radio needs to stop,” the reports state.

Immediately afterward, a commander came on the radio and asked the hotshot crew to continue the transmission, according to the report.

“(A crew member) advised their escape route had been cut off and they were deploying their shelters,” the report states. “I heard numerous attempts by Air Attack trying to contact (the crew member) after this with no response.”

Moments later, a fire chief who was coordinating air operations drove up to the DPS helicopter where medics and crew members were waiting. They informed the operations chief what had just taken place.

“(The operations chief) advised me that he was on a separate channel and did not hear the traffic,” according to the report.

No more radio transmissions were heard from the Hotshot crew.