Reinforcements have poured in to battle an Arizona wildfire that quadrupled in size overnight after killing 19 firefighters.

The Yarnell Hill fire – which killed all but one member of a 20-strong “hotshot” team – was the biggest loss of firefighters’ lives since the September 11 attacks, and the most from a US wildfire in 80 years.

“The Yarnell fire exploded into a firestorm that overran the local Granite Mountain hotshots,” Arizona governor Jan Brewer told reporters.

Recalling the 340 who died on 9/11, she added: “Just as we honour the memory of the firefighters lost that day as they charged into the burning towers, we will remember the brave men of the Granite Mountain hotshots.”

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The raging fire has ripped through more than 3200 hectares some 135km north of Phoenix, up from 800ha late on Sunday, and was zero per cent contained, officials said.

High winds were expected to worsen the blaze, complicating the task for the some 400 firefighters now battling it, up from 200 on Sunday.

“It’s a very difficult situation,” said Arizona land management spokesman Dennis Godfrey. “The high winds are a real danger … It’s even a greater danger when those winds are shifting directions.”

The dead firefighters’ names were not immediately released by authorities, but Juliann Ashcraft told the AZ Central website that her husband Andrew died in the blaze.

“They died heroes .. We’ll miss them. We love them,” said Ashcraft, who learned about the tragedy while watching TV with her four children.

The US southwest has seen soaring temperatures, with records broken over the weekend in Arizona and California.

Hundreds of residents of Yarnell and Peeples Valley were evacuated as the blaze continued to tear through the area.

As of Monday, there were over 40 active blazes in the four states, according to the inciweb fire information website.