This settlement is important not only for those affected, but also for the changes likely to come in fighting wildfires in the U. S. See: Arizona Reached Settlement With Kin of 19 who Died Fighting Wildfire

Relatives of some of the 19 firefighters killed in one of the nation’s deadliest wildfires joined state officials here Monday to announce settlements in two legal cases against the Arizona State Forestry Division, the agency responsible for the firefighters on the day they died.

The agreements, disclosed on the eve of the fire’s second anniversary, include more than $600,000 in compensation for the families and an acknowledgment that commanders’ misguided decisions put the elite firefighting crew, the Granite Mountain Hotshots, at great risk.

The Forestry Division has also agreed, as part of the settlement to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by 12 families, to improve training for its incident commanders and firefighters, test better tracking equipment and join a national effort to provide specific lessons about the effects of dry, warmer seasons on the wild lands.