View of the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott. The 8,400-acre fire killed 19 hotshot firefighters.Listen:
Yarnell residents who lost their houses in the 2013 wildfire appealed the dismissal of two lawsuits Monday.
The residents’ lawyer said the state is liable for the 127 homes burned by the Yarnell Hill Fire, because it failed to contain the fire that started on state land.
"The state had the resources and the opportunity to put this fire out within the first few hours it started and failed to do it," said Craig Knapp, a lawyer representing the residents. "And they should be held legally responsible for that."
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled in April that the state had no responsibility for the fire outside state land.
Nineteen firefighters were killed in the 2013 fire, and their families settled a wrongful death lawsuit in June. The state Forestry Division did not admit liability in that settlement. It did agree to implement new wildland firefighting procedures to improve safety.
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