Firefighter ‘loved what he was doing’
Elite Hotshots captain struck, killed by tree
Brian Hughes, a firefighter who died Sunday battling the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park in California, captained an elite team of firefighters called the Arrowhead Hotshots.
His colleagues remembered Hughes, 33, as a fearless man who led his crew in performing an intense, physically demanding job.
“He was motivated, he was enthusiastic, he loved what he was doing,” said Joe Suarez, superintendent of the Arrowhead Hotshots, based at Sequoia and Kings National Parks. “He woke up every morning with a smile.”
Hughes was one of thousands of firefighters fighting wildfires across the state. At least eight people, including Hughes, have been killed, and seven were missing. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed.
Hotshot crews go straight to the heart of wildfires, working long shifts removing trees and digging lines. They travel long distances to fight blazes and can go months without seeing their families during fire season.
Hughes died after being struck by a tree.
Jessica Garcetti, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center, described hotshots as “some of the most hard-core firefighters that there are.”
The Arrowhead Hotshots are unusual, said Woody Smeck, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, because the group of firefighters has remained the same over multiple seasons – noteworthy for such a demanding profession.
“This team has held together for two or three seasons now, intact,” Smeck said at a news conference Monday. “I think that’s a big tribute to Brian, his personality, his ability to keep the team together, connected, supported. He was their pillar of strength.”
Julio Campos, another member of the Arrowhead Hotshots, said he was near Hughes when he died. He said Hughes was “energetic to the fullest.”
“When everybody was feeling down and overworked, he was always the person to push people through,” he said.
Hughes leaves behind a fiancee who is 13 weeks pregnant, Suarez said. “He will be missed. He will always be remembered.”