Tucson Region

Injured hotshots remain hospitalized

Four "hotshot" firefighters injured by lightning on Mount Graham will remain hospitalized for 48 hours, the Forest Service said Friday. The two most seriously hurt, Scott Gorman and Jeff Every, were evacuated off the mountain Thursday evening after lightning struck the rocky slope they were working on, in a military-style rescue by an Air Force Reserve helicopter. Two other firefighters from the same crew, Travis Anway and Brandon Burrill, were brought to the hospital later in the day. All are members of the Dalton Interagency Hotshot Crew, based on the Angeles National Forest in Southern California. Hotshots are the elite of the ground troops employed in fire suppression. More than 20 of the 20-person crews are now in the Southwest, which is at the peak of its wildfire season. Thursday's thunderstorms ignited 32 of the 35 blazes reported in the region, according to the government's Southwest Coordination Center in Albuquerque. The lighting bolt that hurt the firefighters was one of the first strikes from a fast-approaching thunderstorm, and those injured "were likely victims of the electrical current traveling underground rather than a direct hit," the Forest Service said. The most serious of the injuries appears to be first-degree burns and numbness in the lower extremities, the agency said. The lightning-caused Noon Fire burned only 15 to 20 acres in the Pinaleno Mountains, 75 miles northeast of Tucson. Two hotshot crews remained at the scene Friday, patrolling the fire lines and conducting mop-up operations.