July 02--LA GRANDE -- A memorial service for 19 Granite Mountain firefighters killed Sunday in an Arizona wildfire was held Tuesday morning at the Oregon Youth Authority's River Bend Youth Transition Facility near La Grande.
Twenty-seven graduates and students of River Bend's wildlands fire-fighting academy took part in the solemn, military-style ceremony that began at 10 a.m., said Brian Blisard, River Bend superintendent. The facility is situated along the Grande Ronde River, eight miles west of La Grande near Interstate 84.
The Arizona firefighting deaths were "a terrific dose of reality" for the youthful firefighter trainees, who asked to hold the 20-minute ceremony, explained Blisard. "They felt they had to pass along their respects and their condolences."
At least one of the firefighters killed Sunday was an Oregonian: John Percin Jr., 24, a 2007 graduate of West Linn High School, was a member of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew that was decimated by the Yarnell Hill wildfire blaze.
River Bend is a last stop for offenders ages 12 to 25 before their release back into their communities. The 50-bed facility also offers wood shop and vocational training and other educational programs, plus supervised work experience inside and outside the fenced facility.
Elsewhere, wildland firefighters in Cashmere, Wash., held a benefit barbecue Monday afternoon and raised $6,500 to benefit families of the fallen Arizona firefighters, said Sarah Levy, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Region in Portland. The money will be distributed by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.
"We assist on average 25 families a year, ranging from fatalities to serious injuries and burns that were the result of line-of-duty incidents," said Amanda Deshazo, a spokeswoman for the Boise, Idaho-based foundation on Tuesday.
The non-profit was formed after the 1994 South Canyon Fire in Colorado tragically claimed 14 firefighters' lives, said Deshazo. Nine of those firefighters were based in Prineville.
The foundation has become "the safety net of the wildlands community," she said. "People don't know we exist until they need us."
It assists families of firefighters who are seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, by paying for memorial services, transportation, car rentals and even providing cash when necessary, she said. It has distributed $1.5 million since its creation in 1999.
"Granite Mountain is the largest amount of fatalities we've had in one incident," Deshazo said.
The foundation's "52 Club" consists largely of firefighters and ex-firefighters who contribute $1 a week for a year, she said.
Levy said the Baker River Hotshots of Sedro Woolley, Wash., one of 107 hotshot crews scattered around the nation, are seeking donations for the Arizona firefighters' families.
"If you donate at least $50, you will be mailed a one-of-a-kind commemorative T-shirt " honoring the fallen firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots, she said. Donations may be made on-line at www.wffoundation.org, or by contacting hotshot superintendent Kurt Ranta at [email protected], Levy said.
According to a list distributed by The Associated Press on Monday, the only wildfire in U.S. history to take more lives than the Granite Mountain blaze happened on Oct. 3, 1933, when 29 firefighters died while battling a blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
-- Richard Cockle
Copyright 2013 - The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
