July 01--SEAL BEACH -- Kevin Woyjeck, one of 19 firefighters who died Sunday in the fast-moving Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona, grew up around the fire stations of Los Angeles County while aspiring to follow his father's path in the fire service.
"We come from a family of firefighters. He knew from a young age, that's what he was going to do," said Kevin's father, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Joe Woyjeck said at the family's home in Seal Beach.
The elder Woyjeck is a 33-year veteran of the fire service.
"It's a dangerous job. We've all been hurt. You just hope you don't get the big hurt," said Joe Woyjeck, who is currently posted at the Los Angeles County Fire Department's station in Bellflower.
Monday, an American flag was draped from the second-floor of the balcony of the Woyjeck's' home. The Stars and Stripes and a red firefighters' helmet served as a memorial to the younger Woyjeck, 21, who died in Arizona after spending much of his youth in preparation for a career in the fire department.
Woyjeck died while responding alongside his fellow members of the Granite Mountain Hot Shot Crew, a specialized unit of wildland firefighters. Powerful winds that changed directions while gusting at 40 mph to 50 mph trapped crew members around 3 p.m. Sunday. The spread of the deadly fire was so rapid the blaze grew from 200 acres to about 2,000 in mere hours.
The blaze grew to cover more than 13 square miles and had also destroyed about 200 homes and structures in the Yarnell area by Monday afternoon, according to authorities. The town of Yarnell is about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
Two of the other fallen hot shots also grew up in Southern California. Firefighters Chris Mackenzie and Billy Warneke both grew up in the Riverside County city of Hemet, according The Associated Press and Press Enterprise.
Several firefighters visited the Woyjeck's home Monday to offer their condolences. Visiting firefighters wore black bands around the badges as a traditional sign of mourning.
As the father of a fallen firefighter received hugs from friends, he said, "I have a tight family, and I have a tight fire family."
Kevin Woyjeck, who graduated from Los Alamitos High School where he was a popular member of the track-and-field team, also spent time as a Seal Beach junior lifeguard and studied fire and rescue techniques at Los Angeles County Fire Department Explorer Post 9, based in Cerritos.
The younger Woyjeck also earned an EMT certificate and responded to emergency calls for Care Ambulance Service before becoming a wildland firefighter.
Engineer Scott Miller recalled that Kevin Woyjeck, while at the Explorer Post, earned the privilege of riding along with firefighters to calls and could often be counted upon to rally the others at a training session or help another aspiring firefighter achieve career goals.
"He was just that leader, and (had) this willingness to help others," Engineer Scott Miller said. "He even helped on of the other explorers get a job with Care Ambulance."
Outside of the firefighting community, Kevin Woyjeck's plans to become a firefighter were well-known to those who knew him at Los Alamitos High School, where he competed as a pole vaulter.
"He wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps," former teammate Russell Nighswonger, 20, said.
Nighswonger and Los Alamitos High track and field coach Nathan Howard both described Woyjeck as a "happy-go-lucky" type, but also a determined competitor.
"He was a talented, motivated athlete who worked toward his goal,but at the same time, a free spirit. He was a good kid. We never had any problem with him," Howard said.
Kevin Woyjeck joined the Granite Mountain Hotshots, which is part of the fire department serving Prescott, Ariz., in order to gain the wildland firefighting experience that he thought would be valuable for his desired job in the Los Angeles County Fire Department, his father said.
He is survived by his parents and a brother, 19, and sister, 15.
Hotshots are wildland firefighters whose work is a critical part of wildfire response. Hotshots use hand tools to chop and clear away plants that would otherwise fuel advancing flames. Hotshot crews often work in rugged terrain and in close proximity to flame fronts.
Only one member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots survived the onrushing flames Sunday when winds drove a rapid expansion of the Yarnell Hill fire. Woyjeck and his fellow firefighters deployed their emergency fire shelters -- a last-resort measure rarely taken in the conduct of wildland firefighting-- in an unsuccessful attempt to survive Sunday's disaster.
It is not yet known exactly how the firefighters became trapped. Southwest incident team leader Clay Templin said hot shots and their commanders followed safety protocols, and it may be the fire's erratic nature simply overwhelmed them.
Copyright 2013 - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.
