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On July 1, everyone wakes up to the news that nineteen firefighters have been killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona. The Granite Mountain Hotshots are one of the most storied and highly trained groups of firefighting professionals in the world, and yet a fast-growing fire started by lightning overran nineteen of its members. When they realized the fire was upon them, the firefighters deployed their safety shelters, but the shelters were not protective enough to withstand the intense heat of the blaze. The Yarnell Hill Fire has the highest death toll of any U.S. wildfire since the 1991 East Bay Hills fire killed twenty-five people. It is the sixth deadliest American wildfire and the deadliest wildfire ever in the state of Arizona. Starting today, the Colorado Rockies baseball team will wear 19 on all of their jerseys to honor the fallen firefighters.
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