The newspaper started the project to honor Idahoans killed 20 years ago in a wildfire in Colorado. The crew told him to get out, since at that moment the fire was closer to him than the crew. They dropped into the canyon and lost sight of the fire, he writes. In an interview with The Times, McDonough spoke about the controversy. . He walked down the slope, and touched the char-covered dirt where the investigators had been. The commission levied a $559,000 fine. "It's real life. [10] On July2, the fire was estimated at 8% containment and had not grown in the past 24hours. At the end of the 276-page book, he says each firefighter should be outfitted with locators that continuously transmit locations to command centers, and that more helicopters, more firefighters and more tanker planes are needed to combat wildfires. According to the Arizona State Forestry Division, the team visited the site of the accident, reviewed audio and video files, interviewed individuals associated with the incident, reviewed fire weather and behavior data, and examined available records and physical evidence. The fire wasnt contained. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, The Week in Photos: California exits pandemic emergency amid a winter landscape, Column: Did the DOJ just say Donald Trump can be held accountable for Jan. 6? Learn more about the Granite Mountain Hotshots statue. He has a child on the way with his girlfriend and is looking to turn his life around. She didnt get a ticket. To many, they are husbands, brothers, sons, and friends. how to become a school board member in florida ocean deck band schedule All that lay between me and my brothers was five pounds of trigger pull.. Before you visit, get an overview of the park bydownloading a Printable Park Map. Brendan McDonough wrote a first-person account of the Yarnell Hill Fire in his memoir My Lost Brothers, which was re-titled Granite Mountain. The Arizona State Forestry Division released the Serious Accident Investigation report of the Yarnell Hill Fire fatalities on Sept. 28, 2013. Chains connect each gabion basket, a symbol of the connection and teamwork of the hotshots. Learn more about each firefighter at the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park memorial site or CNNs tribute to the fallen firefighters. Yes. He still lives in Prescott, in a rented home. Even if you have nothing to hide, theyll twist your words. So he put me in touch with an attorney. Some didnt take their phones into the fire. No. Im not famous for being an Olympic gold medalist, Im not famous for inventing the cure for cancer or anything like that. Fire service leaders, plus family and community members, shared their grief. Copyright 2023 FireRescue1. Unfortunately, the Granite Mountain Hotshots did suffer. Fire shelters are occasionally redesigned to better withstand extreme conditions. On June 30, 2015 2 years after the deaths of the hotshots Arizona State Parks purchasedthe 320-acre plot of land that was the site of the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire. Travis Turbyfill was an equipment and tool whiz. Unlike the movie, Marsh didn't scold him and tell him no one would hire him with his criminal background. These included Zuppiger, Christopher MacKenzie and the crew's sole survivor, Brendan McDonough. [47], Outside magazine released the documentary film, The Granite Mountain Hotshots and the Yarnell Hill Fire (August 12, 2013), in which friends, relatives, and colleagues (including Brendan McDonough, the lone survivor of the Granite Mountain Hotshots) speak out. Since reliving the tragedy is difficult, how do you balance the outreach youre doing with your own mental health? (State records show that the deposition had been scheduled for late May 2015. But the constant reminders of the fire wore on him. It was primed to burn because of extreme drought, decadent chaparral and above-average cured grass loadings. "I'm man enough and willing enough to admit that, hopefully to show people that it's OK to struggle," he said. He continues therapy and has surrounded himself with people who lift him up. They want to say, Im so sorry for your loss. People dont understand, thats me reliving it. However, their main complaint wasn't that what was shown was inaccurate, but rather that the film failed to tell the whole story, specifically how other families handled the tragedy. Speculation abounds that McDonoughknows more than he has disclosed aboutevents that day. MONTINI:Out of the ashes - surviving hotshotwrites a book. The real Chris MacKenzie took pictures and video of the fire on the day of the tragedy with a handheld camera. Fire Chief Duane Steinbrink is a real guy who did watch over the team and was indeed close to Eric and Amanda Marsh, but he wasn't the one who guided the creation of the hotshots. "[48] Brody further highlights "battles that the Hotshots widows have faced over health insurance, taxes, labor law, and budgets, involving the online harassment of women". And on July 9, then-Vice PresidentJoe Bidenspoke at a memorial service in Prescott. ", A year later, in an interview with NPR, Kyle Dickman, author of On the Burning Edge, discussed how the incident has and hasnt changed wildland firefighting: I think it's worth taking a bigger-picture perspective on what happened and asking ourselves, why did these men die, and what can we do in the future to prevent more wildland firefighter deaths? A key finding in the report: Although much communication occurred among crews throughout the day, few people understood Granite Mountains intentions, movements, and location, once they left the black. For the next year, he went to memorials, gave speeches and raised money for wildland firefighting. Can religion save us from Artificial Intelligence? He was told by the second in command, Jesse Steed, to evacuate his position. That task was shouldered by former Deputy Fire Chief Darrell Willis, who is not represented in the movie. [54] Brendan McDonough published his first-hand account, My Lost Brothers: The Untold Story by the Yarnell Hill Fire's Lone Survivor (May 3, 2016).[55]. McDonough says he did overhear a discussion on the radio about his supervisor, Eric Marsh, going on ahead to make sure the route was good to the ranch they were hoping to reach, which was supposed to be a safe spot. -WildfireToday.com In the movie, Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch) can be seen taking pictures on the day of the tragedy. Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park was dedicated in 2016 as a place to remember the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Firefighters who were lost on June 30, 2013, while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire. In fact, some were only in their first or second season. My hands were thick with the black soot that I knew contained trace amounts of the bodies of my friends.. In June 2014, approaching the first anniversary of the Yarnell Hill Fire, The Republic asked, Has Yarnell Hill Fire changed way crews fight fires? The story shared the words of a veteran fire captain who acknowledged that no procedures or logistics had changed. "The Yarnell Hill Fire was pretty tragic because an entire Hotshot crew, the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew, perished in that fire," Mason said. In a fierce, monsoon-like thunderstorm, the winds had changed direction on the firefighters. But, I have a purpose in life. They trained under the supervision of Eric Marsh (depicted by Josh Brolin in the movie). "The hotshot crew was the best thing that ever happened to me," says the real Brendan McDonough. Eric Marsh received an email (not a phone call) at 8 p.m. on Saturday evening, the night before they left. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had to stop making so many public appearances. how to verify an unverified sender in outlook. A circular trail provides access around the baskets and the four memorial benches. They could 'read the writing on the wall' before it got to them. That evening, the Type 4 incident commander ordered a Type 2 Incident Management Team (IMT) and additional resources for the following morning. "We are going to hallowed ground," says Jim Paxon, spokesman for the Arizona Forestry Division, moments before leading reporters and TV crews to the site where 19 members of the Granite Mountain . Its one thing to continue to honor men. Both explore the brotherhood of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and offer accounts of their June 30, 2013, deaths. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. But theres other people, a very few people, taking advantage of what it is, taking grief and trauma thats not their own. Do you find people using the tragedy for their own benefit? Eric Marsh's The second time, I was talking to my counselor, and I was just getting into some real heavy [stuff], really getting into the nitty-gritty of what makes my stress, my anxiety, my PTSD tick. Arizonans were infuriated, then, when it was announced that McDonough would write a book about his life and the ordeal, and advise on a movie, Granite Mountain, which is set to begin filming this summer. McDonough got straight, got fit, and after a rocky start with the crew, was fully accepted as a member of the team. "The fact that we trained with actual Granite Mountain Hotshots I think was a major major thing," says Brolin, who plays team leader Eric Marsh in the film. Based on the smoke puffing in the distance, McDonoughthought theyd be home for dinner the next day. NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>. Longitude: -112.7699444. On June 28, 2013, a lightning storm ignited the Yarnell Hill Fire in the high desert northwest of Phoenix. Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park is a state park near Yarnell, Arizona, created to memorialize the nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who died there on June 30, 2013, while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire . No. And for some reason they left." He decided to try joiningthe Granite Mountain Hotshots. Granite Mountain Hotshot Superintendent Eric Marsh's decision-making was called into question by men who had directly worked with Marsh, or were aware of his reputation with other hotshot superintendents, in the weeks following the June 30, 2013, tragedy when Marsh and 18 members of his crew were overrun by fire. This is what started the wildfire two days earlier. Janelle Foskett is the editor-in-chief of FireRescue1.com and FireChief.com, responsible for defining original editorial content, tracking industry trends, managing expert contributors and leading execution of special coverage efforts. I think we got their approval and I think that meant a lot to everybody. In the wilderness and on the job, they put on skits to entertain themselves. May God Rest Their Souls, they were working heroes taken before their time. The tragedy all but wiped out the 20-member Granite Mountain Hotshots, a unit based at Prescott, authorities said Monday as the last of the bodies were retrieved from the mountain in the. With temperatures exceeding 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit with extreme turbulent air conditions, Mason notes no fire shelter could have protected that crew on June 30 of 2013. The real Marsh stood by the decision and said, "Whatever you need to do for your daughter, you go ahead and do that. Is hotshot trucking 2021 worth it? -USAToday.com, The Only the Brave true story confirms that 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots lost their lives on Sunday June 30, 2013 while battling the Yarnell Hill Fire. No, in real life they had a little more advance warning. In addition to the 19 fatalities, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office reported that 127 Yarnell buildings had been destroyed, as well as two in Peeples Valley. She lives in San Diego County, California. I want to be mindful of how Im perceived. [8], By July 1, the fire had expanded to over 8,300 acres (3,400ha) and prompted the evacuation of the nearby community of Peeples Valley. In his right hand, he felt the weight of the gun. did the granite mountain hotshots suffer 12th June 2022 . Winds increased substantially; the fire turned south and overran the Granite Mountain IHC at about 1642., The report explains that there is a gap of over 30 minutes in the information available for the Granite Mountain IHC. [8] The fire was declared 100% contained on July10. The worst they can do is come to my house and put a bullet in my head. McDonoughs book, co-written by Stephan Talty, will be released May 3, along with another, The Fire Line, by New York Times writer Fernanda Santos. As depicted in the movie, they fought fires like the 2011 Horseshoe 2 Fire in southern Arizona. It was never the fires that we had a lot of good times on it was never the experiences of learning from such great men.". The book is part of it, hetoldThe Arizona Republicon Friday, saying he hopespeople who struggle with addiction,grief and PTSD realizethere's hope for a better life. He was gripped by depression, post-traumatic stress, and guilt that he'd survived the 2013 blaze, says his soon-to-be-released book, My Lost Brothers.. In order to fully grasp the impact of the Yarnell Hill Fire and the devastation of the loss of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots, let us start at the beginning who they were, how this tragedy unfolded and how the community has honored the fallen. "It forced me to face a lot of the things that I was keeping deep down some of the stuff that I tried to hide from myself that was really manifesting in a negative way in my body," he said. But they tried making it about me when there were 200 other people who should have been looked at, people [at the Division of Forestry] who could have made better choices. Shortly before high school ended, he learned he was going to be a dad. When youve been left behind as a child, that pain never leaves you, he writes. The incident forced vital discussions about wildland firefighting strategies and tactics, ultimately resulting in a comprehensive investigation report. I felt like a failure because I couldn't support my daughter, because no one wanted to hire a felon. His heart hardened a bit after she up and left him for six months with his grandparents, with whom they had lived. She joined the Lexipol team in 2019 and has 15 years of experience infire service media and publishing. [11] By the end of the day on July3, the fire was reportedly 45percent contained and showing no signs of expanding, thus allowing Peeples Valley residents to return to their homes on July4. The victims were killed by the intense heat and flames of the fire. As Eric looked after his hotshots crew and was away during fire season, Amanda tended to the horses and worked to grow her business. He figured shed be better off without him. McDonough onFriday tried to end the speculation. His firefighting career began in 2005, where he worked for the Prescott National Forest as a hotshot and worked on the Rodeo-Chediski Fire and many others until 2009. The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. This is fiction. Detailing how tragedy unfolded and how the community has honored the fallen firefighters. A year after the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots perished in Arizona's Yarnell Hill Fire, Brendan McDonough sat on the side of the road, opened his truck's glove compartment, pulled out his . They first operated as a fuels mitigation crew until they transitioned to a handcrew in 2004. (Note: A hotshot crew is a nationally available, intensively trained 20-person hand crew focused primarily on handline construction.) This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, Best coffee city in the world? But Im not going to tell them, Dont talk to me.. [36] That memorial was attended by thousands, including representatives from over 100hotshot crews across the country, and was streamed live by several media outlets. Eric makes her stop the truck and storms off, ending up at Duane Steinbrink's house. [17] Frisby and McDonough moved the crew's vehicles to a safer location, which they were doing at the time of Granite Mountain crew's entrapment. In 2009 he was chosen to be among the elite Granite Mountain Hot Shots crew through the City of Prescott. The Only the Brave true story reveals that, like in the movie, the wildfire was caused by a lightning strike on June 28, 2013, approximately 1.5 miles from Yarnell, Arizona. The State Park website details the formation of the Park. Nineteen minutes later, McDonough was sitting in a truck when he heard Marshs voice over the radio: we are in front of the flaming front.. The ages of the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew ranged from 21 to 43, with 14 in their 20s. He dreadsfire season, he writes, and in spite of the investigations into actions of the personnel who worked the Yarnell Hill Fire, nothings really changed on the ground for the crews. According to reports, the reason he was put on lookout duty was because he was still getting over the flu. By then, hed botched an attempt to join a hotshot crew. In an eye-opening scene early in the movie, a fire helicopter sucks water from someone's swimming pool. According to McDonough's memoir, he discussed his future with Eric Marsh quite some time before the Yarnell Fire. In the Only the Brave movie, Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) gets into an argument with his wife Amanda (Jennifer Connelly) while they are driving home from the Whiskey Row bar where they had been hanging out with the crew. The smoke was too thick to see clearly. In the Only the Brave movie, Miles Teller's character tells Eric Marsh that he wants to quit the hotshots and become part of a structural team so that he can see his daughter more. The park opened to the public on Nov. 30, 2016. Eric Marsh, left, superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, has been accused of violating wildfire safety protocols Ward added: 'They all stayed together. The town, which is located roughly 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, has a population of approximately 700 citizens. He fell in love with the idea of a brotherhood. Only one Granite Mountain Hotshot survived the fire. The 19 crewmembers were found approximately one mile south-southeast of their last known location, approximately 600 yards west of the Ranch.. Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo later confirmed that all 19 were from the Granite Mountain Hotshots. The newspaper reports that the lone survivor from the Granite Mountain Hotshots, Brendan McDonough who was serving as a lookout away from the crew during the tragedy, overheard a radio. Seminal incidents can break or transform a community even an entire industry. Toggle navigation beckton gas works railway; how to find ceres in your chart Best thing for everyone.. [35] Vice President Joe Biden, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and the team's lone surviving firefighter, Brendan McDonough, spoke at a memorial in Prescott on Tuesday, July9. I had a lady, she came to one of my book signings. McDonoughthought they were taking a curved, two-track path to get there. How accurate is the movie'Only the Brave'? McDonough's book makes no newrevelationsabout why his friends didnt make it out alive. He doesnt know why the crew took thepath that led them down from safety atop a blackenedridgeand into a trap they would not walk away from atthe front of the wind-swept inferno. [28], On June 30, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer issued a statement offering her condolences. Dec. 15--YARNELL, Ariz. -- Nineteen Granite Mountain Hotshots died in the Yarnell Hill Fire on . The day he showed up at the station, they happened to have an opening. The Granite Mountain Hotshots were a crew within the Prescott Fire Department whose mission was to fight wildfires and when not so, engaged in work to reduce growth of fire-prone vegetation. Im not scared of them, I dont fear them. 0:57. Nigel Duara covered the border for the Los Angeles Times, based in Tucson, until 2017. The hike is approximately 3.5 miles long from the trailhead to the Fatality Site, for a full length of about 7 miles. They were found charred and only fragments remained. Arizona's Forestry Division conducted a three-month investigation that found no negligence in the response to the tragedy, citing that an air tanker carrying flame retardant was directly above the firefighters as they died. [3], On June 30, wildland firefighters with the Prescott Fire Department's interagency Granite Mountain Hotshots were overrun and killed by the fire. McDonough was assigned the task of lookout, which involved observing the fire and watching the weather: You are the eyes of the crew, he writes. We didn't really learn anything new. 0:34. I cried myself to sleep the first four or five nights and dreamed of the day Id make enough money to buy a big house for them all to live together. See more of our top stories on Facebook >>. She had loved horses since childhood and Eric was gifted with horses too. The investigation team was unable to verify communications from the crew from 1604 until 1637 and, therefore, there is much that cannot be known about the crews decisions and actions prior to their entrapment and fire shelter deployment at around 1642., The summary continues: It is known that the Granite Mountain IHC left the black sometime after 1604 and traveled through an unburned area toward a safety zone at the Boulder Springs Ranch. How the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots reached millions, Through the televised memorial service, books and big screen dramatization, countless Americans discovered the story of 19 fallen firefighters. Around 1550, the wind shifted and the fire started pushing aggressively to the southeast, toward Yarnell. The [Arizona Division of Forestry] canceled it the night before, like 8, 9 oclock. [5], At around 5:36p.m. MST (23:36 UTC) on June 28, 2013, a spell of dry lightning ignited a wildfire on Bureau of Land Management lands near Yarnell, Arizona, a town of approximately 700residents located about 80 miles (130km) northwest of Phoenix. Yes. "I have no clue," says lone hotshot survivor Brendan McDonough. I laid the gun on the passenger seat, he writes. It's the most comprehensive and trusted online destination for fire service professionals worldwide. A trail follows the last steps of the hotshots down to the fatality site where they made their last stand. Its a weird kind of celebrity, isnt it? -ABC News. No. McDonough contacted the Granite Mountain Hotshots' team by radio to let them know of his situation. The. The Park features a main trail that leads to an Observation Deck that overlooks the site where the firefighters perished. How many times did the Division of Forestry ask to depose you, and what happened each time? [33] Authorities said that US$800,000 had been raised for the families of the victims as of July4.[34]. He never really had a dad, he writes, and he clung to his mother as she moved them around. He cut his hand on a piece of partly-melted glass, and after walking and sifting through the char, found 10 objects, pieces of his brothers, that included a coffee mug, a broken tool head and a small drip torch. They traveled from Colorado to Idaho fighting fires. Their release also coincides with the start ofa potentially disastrous Arizona wildfire season because of exceptionally dry conditions and high temperaturesresembling those inother catastrophic fire seasons. I probably would have continued doing drugs, I probably would have ended up in prison or with an overdose - or dead. Something like this that you go through, it's not going to be easy but you can come out on top.". Brendan McDonough, who had separated from the crew earlier in the day, survived the incident. "This is as dark a day as I can remember," she said. On that day, 19 of the 20-man wildfire fighting crew perished while battling a fire near Yarnell, Arizona. Yarnell also killed more firefighters than any incident since 9/11. Ive never done that. Watch the Yarnell Hill Fire Serious Accident Investigation Briefing: Download the Yarnell Hill Serious Accident Investigation Report here. Decimal Degrees (WGS84)
Around 4:20 p.m., they reached a ridge above a box canyon filled with thick chaparral. The Park website reads: We invite you to hike the trail to better understand the experience of these men as well as to appreciate the beauty of the town of Yarnell and the surrounding areas. -Variety.com. After the deadly incident, it was decided that they couldn't keep the crew and folded down the service. He set the phone tree in motion, telling the crew to report to Station 7 by 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning. McDonough and Frisby moved the crew's vehicles to a safer spot, which is what they were doing when the entrapment of the Granite Mountain crew was happening. A year after the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots perished in Arizona's Yarnell Hill Fire, Brendan McDonough sat on the side of the road, opened his trucks glove compartment, pulled out his 9mmand came close to ending it all. Granite Mountain had become my substitute family, he writes. On October 20, 2017, Columbia Pictures released a biographical drama film based on the events of this disaster, titled Only the Brave. homes were assessed for treatment, 137 chip jobs were completed, 101 hazardous trees felled, and 222 acres were treated with an additional 26 acres of open space. "It saved my life. Multiple memorial services were held for the fallen firefighters, including private services for individual members. The video shows the Granite Mountain Hotshots observing the fire from the safety of a ridge before they descended into a much more hazardous area. The atmosphere is so dry in the Desert Southwest that big raining thunderstorms often evaporate before the moisture hits the ground. Yes. A "hotshot" is a firefighter who fights fires with fire instead of water. McDonough was stunned. Theyve attached themselves, leeched on to my brothers legacy. An evacuation shelter was set up at Yavapai College in Prescott, with members of the Red Cross providing cots and blankets for overnight stays, along with meals and medical assistance. Brendan McDonough survived one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, an inferno near Yarnell, Ariz., that killed 19 of his fellow Granite Mountain Hotshots on June 30, 2013. Youre recognized near your home in Prescott, Ariz., and at firefighter memorials. Well, kind of, Video shows Memphis jailers beating Black inmate before his death, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, 15 arrested across L.A. County in crackdown on fraudulent benefit cards, Latinx Files: In praise of Jenna Ortega, Aubrey Plaza and moody, deadpan Latinas. A Miami native, Duara was previously a reporter for the Associated Press in Portland, Ore. Chaos ensued. [7] A long-term drought affecting the area contributed to the fire's rapid spread and erratic behavior, as did temperatures of 101F (38C). The good times, he said, were always overshadowed by the deaths. Get an up-close look at the Yarnell Hill Fire by watching the documentary below, which includes audio and video of the Granite Mountain Hotshots from the day of the tragedy. Watch the dedication of the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park: Additionally, theGranite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Learning and Tribute Centeropened in 2018. What he knew in those dark moments a year later:His sorrow was affecting his young daughter. What temperature can a fire shelter withstand? The attorney said, Im not free for some time.. Instead, the filmmakers have the Steinbrink character pulling double duty at times, likely in an effort to trim down the number of characters in the movie and to make Jeff Bridge's role more substantial. He wondered why they dropped into the canyon, and he tried to get inside Marshs head. Under federal law, federal disaster relief is not available if there is insurance, and FEMA said: "damage to uninsured private residences from this was not beyond the response and recovery capabilities of the state (and) local governments and voluntary agencies. Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park was dedicated in 2016 as a placeto remember the 19 fallen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. "Only the brave enjoy noble and glorious deaths," reads the quote, which foreshadows the fates of the firefighters in the movie. It does not show complete truth, it is just a movie. Select the option or tab named Internet Options (Internet Explorer), Options (Firefox), Preferences (Safari) or Settings (Chrome). Prescott seeks public input for Yarnell wildfire memorial. Surprisingly, this is a rather common occurrence. [21] The city of Prescott released the names of the 19 firefighters on July1. [3] Officials shut down 25 miles (40km) of Arizona State Route 89 shortly after the fire started, and 15 miles (24km) of State Route89 remained closed as of June30. Or continue your hike down the Memorial Trail, where you can pay your respects at the site where the Hotshots were recovered. Hike the Hotshots Trail from the parking lot trailhead up to the overlook where you'll see sweeping views in every direction, and perhaps leave a memento on our remembrance wall. interacts online and researches product purchases I think many of the agencies' answers to that is to invest more funding into technologies like better fire shelters, which are the last-ditch aluminum blankets that the men ultimately died under, and then also to equip some of the fighters with GPS devices, so they can be tracked. Most are created by bigger agencies like the Forest Service. 19 of the hotshots died while battling the Yarnell Fire in 2013, and on June 30, 2021, a memorial park was officially dedicated in memory of not only the firefighters, but also for a community who suffered losses as a result of the .