Operational area | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
State | Arizona |
City | Prescott |
Agency overview [1] | |
Established | 1885 |
Annual calls | 8737 (2012) |
Employees | 92 |
Staffing | Career |
EMS level | ALS |
IAFF | 3066 |
Facilities and equipment [2] | |
Stations | 5 |
Engines | 7 |
Trucks | 2 |
HAZMAT | 1 |
Airport crash | 1 |
Wildland | 4 - Type 6 |
Website | |
Official website | |
IAFF website |
The Prescott Fire Department is the municipal fire department for the city of Prescott, Arizona. Additionally, the PFD provides aircraft rescue and firefighting for the Prescott Municipal Airport. [3] Founded in 1885, it is the oldest fire department in the state of Arizona. [1] With a coverage area of 41.5 square miles (107 km2) and serving a population of 39,843, the PFD consists of 92 career personnel, split among five fire stations. [1]
Prior to 1884, Prescott had no water system for fire protection. Wells were sunk at the four corners of the courthouse plaza and double acting hand pumps were installed. [4] In 1884 the water system was installed and the Prescott Volunteer Fire Department was started with a single hose company using a two-wheeled cart hand drawn with 600 feet (180 m) of 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) hose. In 1954 the then four separate volunteer companies were merged into one and named Prescott Fire Department. [4]
The Granite Mountain Hotshots were a group within the department whose mission was to fight wildfires. Founded in 2002 as a fuels mitigation crew, it transitioned to a handcrew (Type 2 I/A) in 2004, and ultimately to a hotshot crew in 2008. [5] The crew had their own fire station, station 7, where equipment, including two 10-person crew carriers, was housed. [6] The 2017 film Only the Brave was based on the Granite Mountain Hotshots and the Yarnell Fire.
On June 30, 2013, 19 members of the 20-man group died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire. [7] [8] Only Brendan McDonough survived. [9] The firefighters had apparently deployed fire shelters, but not all of the bodies were found inside them. [10] According to the National Fire Protection Association, it was the greatest loss of life for firefighters in a wildfire since 1933, the deadliest wildfire of any kind since 1991, and one of the greatest losses of firefighters in the United States next to the September 11 attacks. [11]
Fire Station Number | Address | Engine Companies | Truck Companies | Wildland Units | Special units |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
71 | 333 White Spar Rd. | Engine 71, Engine 711 | Truck 71 | Patrol 71 | Utility 71 & Battalion 1 |
72 | 1700 Iron Springs Rd. | Engine 72, Engine 722 | Truck 72 | Patrol 72 | |
73 | 1980 Clubhouse Dr. Prescott Municipal Airport | Engine 73 | Patrol 73 | Foam 73 | |
74 | 2747 Smoke Tree Lane | Engine 74 | Boat 74 | ||
75 | 315 Lee Blvd. | Engine 75 | Patrol 75 | Haz-Mat Unit |
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County.
Yarnell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population of Yarnell was 649 at the 2010 census. Yarnell's economy is based on ranching, mining and services to travelers and retirees. Peeples Valley, three miles north, is closely linked to Yarnell.
In the United States, a Shot Crew, officially known as an Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC), is a team of 20-22 elite operators which mainly responds to large, high-priority fires across the country and abroad. They are assigned to work the most challenging parts of the fire and are considered strategic and tactical experts. Hotshots are a National Resource and their deployment is tightly controlled at the National Level. Hotshot crews are one of the most highly trained, skilled and experienced type of wild land firefighters. They are qualified to provide leadership for initial-attack and extended-attack on wildland fires. Hotshots are trained and equipped to work in remote areas for extended periods of time with minimal logistical support. They are organized by agencies such as the United States Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and state/county agencies; the National Interagency Fire Center coordinates hotshot crews on the federal level.
A wildland fire engine or brush truck is a fire engine specifically designed to assist in fighting wildfires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment. There are multiple types of wildfire apparatus which are used in different scenarios. According to the U.S. National Fire Protection Association, if the apparatus will be used primarily for outdoor and wildland responses, then it is to be considered a wildland fire apparatus and must conform to NFPA 1906.
Helitack crews are teams of wildland firefighters who are transported by helicopter to wildfires. Helicopters provide rapid transport, enabling helitack crews to quickly respond and assess a wildfire situation. Helitack crews may land near a wildfire or, if equipped and trained, rappel from a hovering helicopter. Once on the ground, crews build firelines using hand tools, chainsaws, and other firefighting tools. They often remain overnight in remote locations. After they have completed their assignment, crew members may pack up to 120 pounds of equipment over difficult terrain to reach a pick-up point. Rappellers often prepare helispots that provide better access to a fire. Helicopter crew members may also perform other duties such as tree falling, firing operations, and managing helibases.
The Prescott Public Library is the public library in Prescott, Arizona.
On August 18, 1937, a lightning strike started the Blackwater Fire in Shoshone National Forest, approximately 35 miles (56 km) west of Cody, Wyoming, United States. Fifteen firefighters were killed by the forest fire when a dry weather front caused the winds to suddenly increase and change direction. The fire quickly spread into dense forest, creating spot fires that trapped some of the firefighters in a firestorm. Nine firefighters died during the fire and six more died shortly thereafter from severe burns and respiratory complications. Another 38 firefighters were injured. The fire killed more professional wildland firefighters in the U.S. than any other in the 103 years between the Great Fire of 1910 and the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013.
The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Just one of the hotshots on the crew survived—he was posted as a lookout on the fire and was not with the others when the fire overtook them. The Yarnell Hill Fire was one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires since the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which killed 25 people, and the deadliest wildland fire for U.S. firefighters since the 1933 Griffith Park fire, which killed 29 "impromptu" civilian firefighters drafted on short notice to help battle that Los Angeles area fire.
The Kingman explosion, also known as the Doxol disaster or Kingman BLEVE, was a catastrophic boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) that occurred on July 5, 1973, in Kingman, Arizona, United States.
The Wildland Firefighters National Monument is an American monument and memorial dedicated to wildland and wildfire firefighters. The monument, which is located on one acre of land, stands on the grounds of the National Interagency Fire Center's (NIFC) headquarters in Boise, Idaho. The monument was dedicated on May 25, 2000.
The Stewardship Contracting Reauthorization and Improvement Act was a bill introduced in the 113th Congress by U.S. Senator Jeff Flake. The bill would have given the federal government more authority to enter into what are known as "forest stewardship contracts", with the goal of reducing the risk of forest wildfires.
Only the Brave is a 2017 American biographical drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski, and written by Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer, based on the GQ article "No Exit" by Sean Flynn. The film tells the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite crew of firefighters from Prescott, Arizona who lost 19 of 20 members while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in June 2013, and is dedicated to their memory. It features an ensemble cast, including Josh Brolin, James Badge Dale, Jeff Bridges, Miles Teller, Alex Russell, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Hardy, Thad Luckinbill, Geoff Stults, Scott Haze, Andie MacDowell, and Jennifer Connelly.
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park is a state park near Yarnell, Arizona, created to memorialize the nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who died there on June 30, 2013, while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire.
The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their home games at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. The Hotshots were one of two AAF teams based in a city that already had an NFL team. The Hotshots were coached by former USFL player and college head coach Rick Neuheisel. Scott Brubaker was the team president and Phil Savage was the general manager.
Fernanda Santos is a Brazilian-American writer, journalism professor and contributing columnist for The Washington Post living in Phoenix, Arizona. She is one of three writers of the musical ¡Americano!, which opened Off Broadway in the spring of 2022. Her first book, "The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots," won the Western Writers of America 2017 Spur Award for Best First Nonfiction Book and was one of two finalists in the Contemporary Nonfiction category.
Starting on 24 June 2018 and continuing throughout the summer, a record-breaking series of wildfires burned across the United Kingdom. The two largest fires, which were declared major incidents, burned over 7 square miles each and broke out on Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester and Winter Hill in Lancashire. Other large fires broke out in Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Epping Forest, in London and in the Vale of Rheidol in Ceredigion, Wales. The Saddleworth Moor fire has been described as the largest English wildfire in living memory. Most of the wildfires occurred during the first official heatwave in the United Kingdom since June 2017, with temperatures reaching above 30 °C (86 °F) for several days, making the hottest June in the country since 1995, and the driest June for over ten years in large parts of the United Kingdom, exacerbating the crisis. A wildfire started on the Staffordshire Moorlands on 9 August and, despite rain, had spread to cover 219 acres by 11 August. Some hot spots were still burning as at 22 August. In total, there were 79 fires over the course of the year, a new record. However, the record was beaten in 2019 with 96 fires as of April 23.
The Lone Peak Hotshots are an Interagency Hotshot Crew located in Draper, Utah in the United States. The crew consists of 23 firefighters 7 of which are permanent and 16 of which are seasonal. The Lone Peak Hotshots season typically begins in mid April and extends until late October.
The Goodwin Fire was a wildfire that burned 28,516 acres (115.40 km2) in the U.S. state of Arizona over 16 days, from June 24 to July 10, 2017. The fire destroyed 17 homes and damaged another 19 structures, but it did not injure or kill any firefighters or civilians. Investigators did not determine any particular cause for the fire.
Yarnell Elementary School District (YESD) is a school district headquartered in Peeples Valley, Arizona. It has one school, Model Creek School.