BREAKING:Nineteen Firefighters Die In Arizona Wildfire

Nineteen elite firefighters have died after losing contact with teams battling a blaze in Arizona, an Arizona Forestry spokesman says.

Forestry spokesman Art Morrison says the firefighters were caught by the blaze near the central Arizona town of Yarnell.

The blaze is believed to be the deadliest wildfire involving fatalities to fire crews since the 1994 Storm King Fire in Colorado, which killed 14 firefighters.

Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said that the 19 firefighters were part of the city's fire department. 

"By the time they got there, it was moving very quickly," he said.

He added that the firefighters had to deploy their emergency shelters when "something drastic" occurred.

"One of the last fail safe methods that a firefighter can do under those conditions is literally to dig as much as they can down and cover themselves with a protective … fire-resistant material," he said.

"The hope at least is that the fire will burn over the top of them and they can survive it. Under certain conditions there's usually only sometimes a 50% chance that they survive.

"It's an extreme measure that's taken under the absolute worst conditions."

The wildfire had prompted evacuations of at least 50 homes in several communities about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.

About 200 firefighters are continuing to fight the wildfire, which has also forced the closure of parts of state Route 89.

The fire started with a lightning strike on Friday. It spread across 2,000 acres on Sunday amid high temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. 

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