Firefighters stop, salute dead Hotshots’ vehicles
YARNELL, Ariz. — Hundreds of firefighters battling a blaze outside the mountain town of Yarnell came off the line Wednesday to salute a procession of fire vehicles that had been left by 19 elite Hotshot crew members killed in the line of duty.
The firefighters gathered along a highway to honor the Prescott-based unit on the same day that they reported significant progress in controlling the deadly blaze. The fire is now 45 percent contained, up from 8 percent earlier in the day.
The vehicles were driven by fellow Prescott firefighters. One of the trucks held backpacks, water jugs and coolers. Another was emblazoned with the group’s motto, in Latin: “To be, rather than to seem.” As the vehicles drove through downtown Prescott, they were greeted by a large crowd that lined the street and waved flags and cheered the motorcade.
Fire crews across the U.S. also paused throughout the day to remember the Granite Mountain Hotshots, said Jim Whittington, spokesman for the multiagency Southwest Incident Command Team. Gov. Jan Brewer said she would fly Arizona flags at half-staff for 19 days for each firefighter lost.
A memorial service for all 19 firefighters has been set for Tuesday in the city of Prescott Valley at an arena that is home to a minor league hockey team. The arena can hold 6,000 people, and an overflow area may be set up outside.
In the biggest loss of U.S. firefighters since 9/11, violent wind gusts on Sunday turned what was believed to be a manageable lightning-ignited forest fire in the town of Yarnell into a death trap that left no escape for the team of Hotshots.
Fire investigators made their way Wednesday to the site where the bodies were found to get their first look at the scene, said Mike Dudley of the U. S. Forest Service who is on the team looking into the deaths.
The investigation will include examining radio logs, the fire site and weather reports. They’ll also talk to the sole survivor of the blaze, 21-yearold lookout Brendan McDonough, who warned his fellow firefighters that the wildfire was switching directions and heading straight for them.
Reporters on Wednesday were allowed into a section of the fire area, where charred pine trees resembled burnt toothpicks sticking out of the hillsides. The ground was covered in a blackened patchwork, and the higher mountains behind the hills were speckled by pink retardant. Fire officials did not take journalists near where the bodies of the 19 firefighters were found.