Prescott honors fallen hotshots 5 years after Yarnell Hill Fire
“That night the smoke was so thick we couldn’t even breathe,” said Sherri Stanely, a 46-year-old Prescott nurse.
Five years later, the memories still linger.
The day raging flames consumed acres of dry scrub and engulfed the desert hills, spreading until a wall of fire trapped 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
The fast-moving wildfire burned 8,400 acres, destroyed 127 structures and forced hundreds of residents to
flee for their lives.
Five years ago, 19 firefighters died in the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. It remains the deadliest day for U.S. firefighters since Sept. 11.
At first glance, the heaviness that settled over Prescott — where the fallen crew members’ hometown pauses each year to remember the loss in its past — in those first days after the deaths seemed to have lifted.
This year, the event coincided with a pre-Fourth of July celebration.
Cheers and laughter were heard in the town square at the Yavapai County Courthouse, where nearly two thousand people gathered.
But a lasting mourning was sensed in the silence.
At 4:42 p.m., the same time the fire overtook the men five years ago, the crowd observed a moment of silence, bowing their heads as a bell tolled 19 times, once for each fallen firefighter.
“The pain is still there,” said Norma Kendall, 61, who was raised in Prescott. “Our feelings are still the same, we’re still healing, it’s been a tragic loss for Prescott.”
Prescott resident William Hutton, 64, said Fourth of July celebrations usually don’t coincide with the memorial. “It’s just heartbreaking that they don’t know about it,” Hutton said.
“Most of these people are from out of town, they don’t know about the Hotshots,” he said. “The locals will be here.”
A Prescott firefighter pulled on the silver bell. Nineteen pulsating rings sounded.
Hundreds more who heard the bell, suspended their festivities briefly and joined the memorial as Prescott Fire Chief Dennis B. Light uttered his opening remarks.
During his speech, Light told the Prescott community to “not relive the pain, suffering, and emotional trauma from five years past.”
“Instead, let’s move towards a firesafe community for our citizens and most importantly our firefighters.”
For many, putting the past behind them is still a daily struggle.
Prescott resident Andrea Ramey, 56, who worked with some of the hotshots a few years before their passing, said “my heart is still standing still.”
“My teardrops are right behind my eyelids always,” Ramey said. “They were always trying to help.”
Ramey was accompanied by her 5year-old German Shepherd that she named “Hotshot.”
“He came to me when he was 8weeks-old the day of the first memorial service,” she said.
Five years later, Hotshot continues to console Ramey through each memorial.
Another Hotshot, Brendan McDonough, the only member of the 20-man crew to survive the fatal firestorm in 2013, was not seen at the memorial.
It is unclear whether he attended or not, but Ramey said last time she saw him “you can actually see the smile reach his eyes now.”
“It’s a real smile, his heart is healing too.”