‘Hands of Mercy, Hearts of Courage, You have saved us from the flames’ — ‘Blazing Honor,’ a song by Denise Whitley (Roggio)
The Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting celebrates its 60th birthday this year. Nine years ago, June 30, 2013, 19 young men died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire, as 8,000-plus acres burned until the flames were extinguished July 10. On its diamond anniversary, the world's largest museum of firefighting history honors the hotshots' courage and sacrifice.
That Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew from Prescott, Arizona, Station #7: Andrew Ashcraft, 29; Robert Caldwell, 23; Travis Carter, 31; Dustin Deford, 24; Christopher MacKenzie, 30; Eric Marsh, 43, the superintendent of the group; Grant McKee, 21 (Caldwell's cousin); Sean Misner, 26; Scott Norris, 28; Wade Parker, 22; John Percin Jr., 24; Anthony Rose, 23; Jesse Steed, 36; Joe Thurston, 33; Travis Turbyfill, 27; William Warneke, 26; Clayton Whitted, 28; Kevin Woyjeck, 21; Garret Zuppiger, 27.
Brendan McDonough, 21, survived; his memoir, Granite Mountain, with Stephan Talty, became the film, Only the Brave. Recovering from a snake bike, the youngest of the crew was on weather-watch duty a short distance away and was saved by a UTV driver who stopped to warn him that the monsoon-driven air had intensified the heat, incinerating the manzanita brush, and changed direction, ensuring death for the 19 hotshots. “All of the boxes were checked for tragedy,” says Chuck Montgomery, the museum's executive director.
Rigorously trained in wildland firefighting, the Prescott men were sent to battle the Yarnell Hill Fire. None were members of the Yarnell Fire Department, and none lived in town.
Two local
