( CNN ) -- Even the prospect of rain is little help to the crews fighting an Arizona wildfire that killed 19 of their comrades . But firefighters battling the Yarnell Hill blaze did get a boost from the U.S. military , which committed four specially equipped C-130 transports to the effort Tuesday . About 400 ground personnel and 100 incident management staff are working to control the fire , shadowed by the near-total loss of an elite team that was overrun by the spreading blaze Sunday . `` You have to acknowledge it , '' Karen Takai , a spokeswoman for the firefighting effort , told reporters Tuesday morning . `` You ca n't push it behind in your head , but acknowledge it , and then they get their head back in the game . They have to focus very hard on the ground , or we 'll be in that same circumstance again . '' And though Tuesday 's forecast calls for about a 25 % chance of thunderstorms , those squalls could bring gusts of 50 to 80 mph , lightning and only `` spotty '' rain , National Weather Service forecaster Jim Wallmann told reporters . `` Although 80 miles per hour is unlikely , the potential there is for stronger winds than what we saw on Sunday afternoon , '' Wallmann said . Meanwhile , temperatures in the 90s are expected to prevail throughout the week , he said . The fire had scorched about 8,400 acres Tuesday morning and was largely unchanged Tuesday afternoon , incident commander Clay Templin told a public meeting . How to help the families . The region has been suffering from an extreme drought , and the winds whipping through the mountains can blow embers into new patches of parched woodland and mesquite grass , Takai said . `` That mesquite is extremely oily , and once that starts , an ember gets into those extremely dry fuels , that fire is going to rip , '' she said . `` It 's very difficult to control at that degree , especially with the winds that we 're having out here . '' The fire has scorched about 13 square miles of the mountains outside Prescott , 80 miles northwest of Phoenix . It remained completely uncontained Tuesday morning , Takai said . Late Monday afternoon , the Yavapai County Sheriff 's Office advised residents in the communities of Peeples Valley and Yarnell to evacuate their dwellings . An estimated 200 homes and other structures have burned in Yarnell . Though firefighters got a break with higher humidity and brief showers Tuesday morning , `` The winds are just drying out that fuel right after the rain is hitting the ground , '' Takai said . `` It 's a pattern that is very difficult to work with . '' Remembering those who were killed . The C-130 crews now joining the fight will have their work cut out for them in battling what is now considered the deadliest fire in state history . Equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System , or MAFFS , the planes , loaded with water or fire retardant , can drop 3,000 gallons in less than five seconds . The retardant covers an area one-quarter of a mile long and 60 feet wide , and the aircraft can land , reload and be airborne again in under 20 minutes . `` They 'll be capable of actually dropping a lot of liquid on that ground in areas where it will be most effective , '' Takai said . The planes are from Colorado , where crews had been working on fires for the last several days . But they are now considered more vital for Arizona . The military deployment is coming at the request of civilian firefighting authorities . A Defense Department official confirmed the details to CNN but declined to be identified because an announcement has not yet been made . CNN 's Barbara Starr contributed to this report .
80-mph wind gusts are `` unlikely '' but possible , forecaster says . The National Weather Service in Miami said the storm could bring up to 10 inches of rain and strong winds as it moves through South Florida. Four C-130s are bound for Arizona firefighting efforts . The planes can drop massive amounts of water or fire retardant .