Tucson, Ariz., Dec 10, 2011 / 11:03 am
It was a Tuesday – June 14 – when a raging wildfire ate its way over a ridge in the Huachuca Mountains and took aim at Our Lady of the Sierras Shrine, situated on a hillside overlooking the San Pedro Valley near Hereford, Ariz.
At the same time, a crew of about 80 firefighters was assembling just above the shrine, intending to set a back-burn in hopes of saving the site.
Suddenly, apparently on a signal from a spotter plane, the firefighters “threw their shovels away and ran for their lives” as the wind-whipped flames roared down the hillside and enveloped the site.
The fire was hot enough to “melt metal and melt glass” and quickly consumed several structures and blew through tall oak doors on the stone chapel, gutting it, said Nannette M. Chouinard, the shrine site manager.