Everyone here in Arizona is mourning the loss of the nineteen firefighters called the “Granite Mountain Hotshots” who got caught in a shift of wind while trying to save the town of Yarnell from a fire that’s been blazing near Prescott for days:

The bodies of 19 members of an elite firefighting crew who perished as a ferocious blaze ravaged forests in Arizona on Sunday have been retrieved from the mountain where they died.

As the bodies of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were recovered, it emerged that the team’s 20th member survived as he was moving the crew’s truck when the flames overcame his comrades.

Helicopters had been unable to reach the highly-trained men as they fought the flames in Yarnell and they could not be saved by their emergency shelters – tent-like structures meant to shield them from flames and heat.

When they were found on Sunday, all 19 shelters were deployed but some of the men’s bodies were inside their individual shelters, while others were outside – indicating just how suddenly they were overcome by the flames.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one`s life for his friends” (John 15:13). If any group of men alive could be called heroes, it’s these brave men. May their souls rest in peace and their families know the comfort and strength of God’s presence and grace.