美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-07-03

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Nineteen members of an elite² team called Hotshots(快车). The Granite³ 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 - scorching⁴ heat and low humidity. With that combination the fire exploded into a monster, devouring⁵ acres that had not burned in 40 years. 

 

First a few dozen homes. Then 200 scorched⁶. 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 awareness⁷ 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 monsoon⁸ 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 gusts⁹. 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 deploy¹⁰ 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 ferocious¹¹ wildfire. All but one were killed. The remains¹² 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 charred¹³ fields they tried to extinguish in a caravan¹⁴ of white vans. People lining¹⁵ 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 retrieving¹⁶ the uniforms of their fallen loved ones, wives widowed in an instant.

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