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A video that captures the Granite Mountain Hotshots’ last radio transmissions has been released, among other documentation from the Yarnell Hill Fire.
The radio transmissions are captured by another firefighter’s helmet camera.
See also:
–Investigating the Deaths of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots
In the video, you can hear the hotshots try to make contact, as one of the firefighters listening to the transmission says to another that he can hear chainsaws in the radio transmission — which isn’t a good sign. Another firefighter starts to say to him that they’re in a safety zone, which several people on the scene had also thought, since it was the last thing they heard out of the hotshot crew.
The reality of the situation seems to set in faster with the firefighters on the ground than it did with the other party on the radio, “Bravo 33.” (Wildfire Today reports that “Bravo 33” was “doing two jobs at the same time, Air Attack and Lead Plane,” and in the opinion of the author, a wildfire-fighting expert, he was “overwhelmed” with his duties.)
After it’s clear to everyone that the hotshots are in trouble, Superintendent Eric Marsh makes the hotshots’ last call. See the video below:
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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
