Esperanza fire base camp in Beaumont, Calif.

Four firefighters were killed and another critically burned Thursday as they battled to protect homes from a wind-whipped arson fire that charred almost 24,000 acres and forced hundreds to flee mountain communities west of Palm Springs.

The U.S. Forest Service crew members were manning hoses on a mountain road about 8 a.m. when a burst of wind sent flames shooting over them so quickly they had no time to deploy portable fire shelters.

"These winds were devil winds. They came out of nowhere," said Pat Boss, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. "They were fleeing for their lives … and the flames caught them."

from http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fire27oct27,0,7172115.story