Remembering the Granite Mountain Hotshots this year

Every year on June 30, the mountain community of Yarnell remembers the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished in 2013’s Yarnell Hill Fire.

Last year, the annual service drew nearly 150 people to a memorial park in the center of town. But this year’s 7th anniversary remembrance is taking place virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 15-minute service, filmed in advance at various locations, begins at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and can be viewed on these websites: yarnellarearesourcegroup.org, yarnellfire.org, and peeplesvalleyfire.org.

One aspect that remains the same will be the signature reading of the 19 hotshots’ names by Lew and Marcie Theokas, grandparents of 27-year-old Garret Zuppiger, who died in the fire.

The service’s late-afternoon timing coincides with when the fast-moving blaze overran the hotshots at 4:42 p.m. in a nearby box canyon. All but one crew member died in the fire, which at the time was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in 80 years. Nearly 130 homes were destroyed.

Yarnell, an unincorporated town of about 650 residents, including many retirees, is 35 miles south of Prescott. The decision to move the service online this year was made out of an abundance of caution as COVID-19 cases in the state have continued to rise, said Frances Lechner, president of the Yarnell Area Resource Group.

Prescott, where the hotshots were based, will also have a series of events to commemorate the crew:

i On Saturday, the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Learning and Tribute Center will celebrate its 2nd anniversary. The center will debut new shirts that honor the 19 hotshots. The center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, and is located at the Prescott

Gateway Mall, 3280 Gateway Blvd. For information: gmihc19.org.

i At 1 p.m. on Tuesday, the tribute center will have a wreath-laying ceremony with pipe and drum corps and remarks from Prescott Mayor Greg Mengarelli and Prescott Fire Chief Dennis Light.

i Also on Tuesday, the Yavapai County Courthouse in downtown Prescott will ring the bell 19 times — once for each hotshot — beginning at 4:42 p.m. No speeches are planned. To hear the bells, stand on the south side of the courthouse.

In Yarnell, Lechner expects there

may be people who show up at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, even though no formal events are planned.

To accommodate anyone who shows up, organizers are preparing a brief welcome, reading of the 19 names and a moment of silence at the Yarnell Hill Fire Memorial Park.

Next year, the plan is to return to the traditional, full-length service at the park. Lechner looks forward to when people can gather together again to remember the hotshots.

“There’s something very powerful about being with a group of people in a beautiful place,” she said.

The Yarnell 19

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, 24.

Anthony Rose, 23.

Jesse Steed, 36.

Joe Thurston, 32.

Travis Turbyfill, 27.

William Warneke, 25. Clayton Whitted, 28.

Kevin Woyjeck, 21.

Garret Zuppiger, 27.

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