Yarnell Hill Fire Disaster

Date: 30 Jun 2013 to 30 Jun 2013
Location: Yarnell, Yavapai, Arizona, United States
Surnames/tags: Forest_Fires Wildfires Natural_Disasters

The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

Contents 1 Men Lost 2 Survivor 3 Reactions 4 Memorials 5 Sources

Men Lost

• Andrew Sterling Ashcraft, 29
• Robert Caldwell, 23
• Travis Clay "Travie" Carter, 31
• Dustin James DeFord, 24
• Christopher Alan Peebles MacKenzie, 30
• Eric Shane Marsh, 43
• Grant Quinn McKee, 21
• Sean Michael Misner, 26
• Scott Daniel Norris, 28
• Wade Scott Parker, 22
• John Joseph Percin Jr., 24
• Anthony Michael Rose, 23
• Jesse James Steed, 36
• Joe B Thurston, 33
• Travis John Turbyfill, 27
• William Howard Warneke, 26
• Clayton Whitted, 28
• Kevin Woyjeck, 21
• Garret Joseph Zuppiger, 27

Survivor

Brendan McDonough: "Brendan is the lone survivor of the Yarnell Hill fire tragedy of 2013. Today he is a public speaker and works with numerous nonprofits for veterans, police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services. He lives in Prescott, Arizona. McDonough is an uplifting speaker, whose courage to find support at his weakest has inspired others to find their own tribes of support. Building a sense of brotherhood within communities gives McDonough great joy – because it helps this fighter honor the legacy of his 19 lost, but not forgotten, brothers." (Source: https://azstateparks.com/hotshots/the-hotshots/about-the-hotshots).

McDonough has also written a book about his experience called, "Granite Mountain." Here is the synopsis of the book from Amazon.com...

"A "unique and bracing" (Booklist) first-person account by the sole survivor of Arizona's disastrous 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, which took the lives of 19 "hotshots" -- firefighters trained specifically to battle wildfires.

Brendan McDonough was on the verge of becoming a hopeless, inveterate heroin addict when he, for the sake of his young daughter, decided to turn his life around. He enlisted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of elite firefighters based in Prescott, Arizona. Their leader, Eric Marsh, was in a desperate crunch after four hotshots left the unit, and perhaps seeing a glimmer of promise in the skinny would-be recruit, he took a chance on the unlikely McDonough, and the chance paid off. Despite the crew's skepticism, and thanks in large part to Marsh's firm but loving encouragement, McDonough unlocked a latent drive and dedication, going on to successfully battle a number of blazes and eventually win the confidence of the men he came to call his brothers.

Then, on June 30, 2013, while McDonough -- "Donut" as he'd been dubbed by his team--served as lookout, they confronted a freak, 3,000-degree inferno in nearby Yarnell, Arizona. The relentless firestorm ultimately trapped his hotshot brothers, tragically killing all 19 of them within minutes. Nationwide, it was the greatest loss of firefighter lives since the 9/11 attacks.

Granite Mountain is a gripping memoir that traces McDonough's story of finding his way out of the dead end of drugs, finding his purpose among the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and the minute-by-minute account of the fateful day he lost the very men who had saved him. A harrowing and redemptive tale of resilience in the face of tragedy, Granite Mountain is also a powerful reminder of the heroism of the people who put themselves in harm's way to protect us every day."

Reactions

• On June 30, Arizona Governor Jan Drinkwine Brewer issued a statement offering her condolences. "This is as dark a day as I can remember," she said. She ordered flags flown at half-staff in Arizona through July 19.
• President Barack Obama issued a statement on July 1, promising federal help and praising the 19 firefighters as heroes.
• On July 2, more than 3,000 people attended a public memorial service at an indoor stadium in Prescott Valley. Vice President Joe Biden, Arizona Governor Jan Drinkwine Brewer, and the team's lone surviving firefighter, Brendan McDonough, spoke at a memorial in Prescott on Tuesday, July 9. That memorial was attended by thousands, including representatives from over 100 hotshot crews across the country, and was streamed live by several media outlets.

Memorials

• Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park was created to honor the hotshots. A three-mile path leads from a parking area on Highway 89 up to an observation deck. A trail follows the last steps of the hotshots down to the fatality site where they made their last stand. Encircling the fatality site, 19 gabions, one for each hotshot, are united by chains.
• A second memorial has been placed at the intersection of Arizona State Route 89 and Hays Ranch Road in Peeples Valley.
• On March 3, 2019, the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football retired the No. 19 jersey in honor of the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarnell_Hill_Fire
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_Mountain_Hotshots_Memorial_State_Park
• McDonough, Brendan and Talty, Stephan, Granite Mountain (Hatchette Books: New York, New York,) 18 Apr 2017.
• https://www.firehero.org/fallen-firefighter
• https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/19-true-story-yarnell-hill-fire/
• https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-wildfires/2018/06/24/five-years-later-5-things-we-have-learned-yarnell-hill-fire-killed-granite-mountain-hotshots/722673002/
• https://www.firerescue1.com/yarnell-hill/articles/granite-mountain-hotshots-the-firefighting-team-that-died-battling-the-yarnell-hill-fire-Ot1BJ3uUG8US1wkI/
• https://wildfiretoday.com/2013/07/09/photos-from-the-granite-mountain-19-memorial-service/