Flags are flying a half-staff in Arizona today in honor of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished on June 30, 2013.
It was the deadliest fire for firefighters since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
It was the final alarm for Andrew Ashcraft, 29, Robert Caldwell, 23, Travis Carter, 31, Dustin Deford, 24, Christopher MacKenzie, 30, Eric Marsh, 43, Grant McKee, 21, Sean Misner, 26, Scott Norris, 28, Wade Parker, 22, John Percin Jr., 24, Anthony Rose, 23, Jesse Steed, 36, Joe Thurston, 32, Travis Turbyfill, 27, William Warneke, 25, Clayton Whitted, 28, Kevin Woyjeck, 21 and Garret Zuppiger, 27.
The crew had told dispatchers they were "in the black," a safe area as the vegetation is burned. But, they later moved to another location, also believed to be safe, AZ Central reported.
The wind shifted, and the firefighters were overcome by the fast-moving fire. All were found dead.
In the years since, there have been memorials dedicated, monuments erected, a Hollywood movie released and multiple studies conducted.
Today, at 1 p.m. at the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew Learning and Tribute Center in Prescott a bell ringing and Central Arizona Pipe and Drum Corps will open a ceremony.
Speakers will include Prescott Fire Chief Holger Durre and John Marsh, the center's board chair.
Starting at 4 p.m., a remembrance event will be held at the memorial built in 2019.
During a recent review of major fires during June, retired Firehouse editor Steven Shaw said the website dedicated a slide show of the firefighters battling the Yarnell Hill Wildfire.
“On June 30, 2013, the worst tragedy to occur in 80 years in wildland firefighting claimed the lives of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots in a fire near Yarnell, AZ. Another firefighter who was acting as a lookout, and who was not with the main group, survived.” That is how then-Firehouse Editor-in-Chief Harvey Eisner began his coverage of the memorial service just nine days after the tragedy. A ceremony attended by then-Vice President Joe Biden. Eisner also provided a follow-up to the memorial service coverage."
Months after the tragedy, a local news station obtained the last known recordings of the crew. And Granite Mountain Hotshot Christopher MacKenzie shot these last two video clips, the last known images of the hotshots.
