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Yarnell Hill Fire denied disaster status by feds, which may mean huge tax bills for survivors' families when they claim donations collected for them.

"Tax concerns could force the families of the 19 hotshots killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire to wait until next year to receive their share of $4.7million in donations collected in the wake of the tragedy. Officials with two firefighters associations in Phoenix and Prescott, which have collected more in donations than any other groups, said Friday that they are worried the families could receive the cash only to be hit with a giant tax bill. They said their concerns were magnified this month when the federal government denied major-disaster status for the region. The absence of the disaster designation, they said, could leave victims vulnerable to federal and state taxes exceeding 40 percent combined." -- Robert Angelen, the Arizona Republic


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