On June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a group of firefighters within the Prescott Fire Department.

[3][4] The tragedy is primarily attributed to an extreme and sudden shift in weather patterns, causing the fire to intensify and cut off the firefighters' route as they were escaping.

Other factors that contributed to the tragedy include the terrain surrounding the escape route, which may have blocked the victims' view of the fire front and limited situational awareness, and problems with radio communications.

[7] A long-term drought affecting the area contributed to the fire's rapid spread and erratic behavior, as did temperatures of 101 °F (38 °C).

[14] A "flash point" of the fire was the Glen Ilah neighborhood of Yarnell, where fewer than half of the structures were burned.

An evacuation shelter was set up at Yavapai College in Prescott, with members of the Red Cross providing cots and blankets for overnight stays, along with meals and medical assistance.

When a helicopter was able to fly into the area over two hours later, Eric Tarr, a police officer–paramedic with the Arizona Department of Public Safety went in on foot and found the 19 bodies.

[36] Vice President Joe Biden, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and the team's lone surviving firefighter, Brendan McDonough, spoke at a memorial in Prescott on Tuesday, July 9.

[37] That memorial was attended by thousands, including representatives from over 100 hotshot crews across the country, and was streamed live by several media outlets.

[43] On July 7, 2013, joint federal, state, and local government damage assessments were conducted in the areas affected by the Yarnell Hill Fire.

The Commission said that state fire officials knowingly put protection of property ahead of safety and should have pulled crews out earlier.

[48][49] Richard Brody, writing in The New Yorker,[50] and Fernanda Santos, in The New York Times,[51] point out numerous cases of firefighters' and their survivors' benefits having been withheld, lawsuits, and acrimony among the local politicians, some citizens, and the survivors of the firefighters who died in the Yarnell Hill Fire that became so extreme that,[50] as Santos observes: "Juliann Ashcraft (wife of Granite Mountain Hotshot Andrew Ashcraft) decided to leave Prescott altogether to spare her four children the discomfort of whispers and glares.

"[51] Brody further highlights "battles that the Hotshots' widows have faced over health insurance, taxes, labor law, and budgets, involving the online harassment of women".

[53] The U.S. Forest Service released a series of videos on November 10, 2014, that were shot by wildland firefighters on the day of the Yarnell Hill tragedy.

[55] The Weather Channel released a documentary, America Burning: The Yarnell Hill Fire Tragedy and the Nation's Wildfire Crisis (2014).

[56][57] Kyle Dickman, a former firefighter and former editor of Outside magazine, published the nonfiction book, On the Burning Edge: A Fateful Fire and the Men Who Fought It (2015).

[58] Brendan McDonough published his first-hand account, My Lost Brothers: The Untold Story by the Yarnell Hill Fire's Lone Survivor (May 3, 2016).

[59] On October 20, 2017, Columbia Pictures released a biographical drama film based on the events of this disaster, titled Only the Brave.