"One of the deadliest wildfires in a generation vastly expanded Monday to cover more than 8,000 acres, sweeping up sharp slopes through dry scrub and gnarled piñon pines a day after fickle winds and flames killed 19 firefighters."

" The gusty monsoon winds where the Colorado Plateau begins to drop off into the Sonoran Desert continued to bedevil about 400 firefighters who were defending 500 homes and 200 businesses in the old gold mining villages of Yarnell and Peeples Valley.

Scientists said those blazes and 15 others that remained uncontained from New Mexico to California and Idaho were part of the new normal — an increasingly hot and dry West, resulting in more catastrophic fires."

Felicity Barringer and Kenneth Chang report for the New York Times July 1, 2013. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Wildfire Season So Far: Tragic, Destructive And Below Average" (NPR/The Two-Way) [3]

"Does Climate Change Make Western Firefighting More Dangerous?" (Mother Jones) [4]

"The Climate Context Behind the Deadly Arizona Wildfire" (Climate Central) [5]