![]() ![]() Tom Richards, of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "Aside from 9/11 this is the largest firefighter tragedy in the history of the fire service," said Capt. "There's a long history of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things." ![]() "Firefighting was not what they did, it was who they were," Biden said. The victims were identified as Anthony Rose, 23 Eric Marsh, 43 Robert Caldwell, 23 Clayton Whitted, 28 Scott Norris, 28 Dustin Deford, 24 Sean Misner, 26 Garret Zuppiger, 27 Travis Carter, 31 Grant McKee, 21 Travis Turbyfill, 27 Jesse Steed, 36 Wade Parker, 22 Joe Thurston, 32 William Warneke, 25 and John Percin, 24 Kevin Woyjeck, 21 Chris MacKenzie, 30 and Andrew Ashcraft, 29. Nineteen hearses, each accompanied by an honor guard, transported the firefighters' bodies Sunday from the medical examiner's office in Phoenix to Prescott as people - many from the community the firefighters died trying to protect - lined streets and waved American flags. Vice President Joe Biden and Arizona Gov. "The other guys that don't come from a wildland background still feel that bond." "More than half of our guys from LA City are former hotshots, wildland firefighters - so it hit close to home for all of us," said Greg Holly, of the Los Angles Fire Department. During a bagpipe and drums procession Monday at the town center, some firefighters wore shirts with the victims' names listed on the back and the words, "We will never forget." Members of the Los Angeles county and city fire departments boarded buses early Tuesday to join colleagues from throughout the United States and Canada at the service. "Anything Prescott need, anything Arizona needed, these Hot Shots stepped up."īates and members of the Prescott Fire Department were joined by several Southern California firefighters at the memorial. "Protect us they did, not just June 30, but for many years and in many ways," Bates said. The men not only fought fires, but cleared defensible space to protect homes, developed community disaster plans and trained other firefighters. The wind-whipped fire marked the deadliest wildland fire since 25 firefighters were killed as they fought the 1933 Griffith Park fire.ĭan Bates, vice president of the local firefighters association, said the men were protecting a community they loved. The firefighters, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew, were killed June 30 as they fought a 13-square mile wildfire near the community of Yarnell, Ariz. The families also were presented with bronze firefighting hand tools, a nod to the Pulaski tool commonly used by wildland fire crews to construct firebreaks. ![]() An honor guard pesented the victims' families with U.S. ![]()
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