Arizona wildfire still out of control

Investigators from across the US are examining how 19 elite firefighters died in an Arizona fire. Source: AAP

INVESTIGATORS from across the US have poured into an Arizona town to learn why 19 elite firefighters died in an out-of-control wildfire and whether human error played a role.

The investigation into the country's biggest loss of firefighters since September 11, 2001, will look at whether the crew paid attention to the forecast, created an escape route, and took other precautions developed after a similar disaster in Colorado nearly two decades ago.

The team also will look at whether the crew should have been pulled out before the fire exploded.

Within hours on Sunday, violent wind gusts turned what was believed to be a relatively manageable, lightning-ignited forest fire into a death trap. In a desperate attempt at survival, the firefighters unfurled their foil-lined emergency shelters, but those offer only limited protection when in the direct path of a fire.

The lone survivor was serving as a lookout and relaying key information to his colleagues, officials said on Tuesday.

Brendan McDonough, 21, notified the others that the weather was changing rapidly and that the fire had switched direction because of the wind. He told them he was leaving the area and to contact him on the radio if they needed anything, said Wade Ward, a Prescott Fire Department spokesman.

Ward said McDonough "did exactly what he was supposed to".

McDonough "has no desire to speak to anybody at this point," he added.

The federal government overhauled its safety procedures following the deaths of 14 firefighters in Colorado in 1994.

"There are so many striking parallels between this tragedy and what happened on Storm King in 1994, it's almost haunting," said Lloyd Burton, professor of environmental law and policy at the University of Colorado.

Those changes included policies under which no firefighters should be deployed unless they have a safe place to retreat. They must also be continuously informed of changing weather.

The Hotshot team based in Prescott entered the smoky wilderness over the weekend with backpacks, chainsaws and other heavy gear to remove brush and trees and deprive the flames of fuel.

But the blaze grew from 80 hectares to about 800ha in a matter of hours.

Dick Mangan, a retired US Forest Service safety official and consultant, said it is too early to say if the crew or those managing the fire made mistakes.

The fire which killed them remains out of control. More than 400 firefighters are working on the blaze after the area ravaged by flames quadrupled in size from 809 hectares to more than 3237ha.

The US military has ordered four air tankers to join the fire-dousing efforts.

The Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) planes will be redeployed from other states to help tackle blazes including the Yarnell Hill fire, which remained zero per cent contained despite a doubling of ground crews fighting it.

The extra firefighting aircraft, which are specially-equipped military C-130 planes, can drop 3000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, and can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

They are expected to all be in place by midday on Wednesday local time, said a statement by the US military's Air Expeditionary Group for wildfire fighting, based in Boise, Idaho.

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