Family of Granite Mountain Hotshot speaks out on fifth anniversary of deaths
Nineteen firefighters who died five years ago in an Arizona wildfire were honored at a memorial service Saturday afternoon.
The event in Prescott, featured bell tolls and the reading of the names of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who died June 30, 2013 after becoming trapped in a brush-choked canyon in Yarnell- northwest of Phoenix.
The uncle of southern California native Kevin Woyjeck, one of the fallen, attended the service and hiked to the site.
“It was emotional. It was very surreal,” Tim Combs, a cousin who says he was more like an uncle to Woyjeck, told KESQ News Channel 3’s and CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner. “When you make that hike, about 3.5 Miles in, and when you make that hike down and you’re kind of tired- it takes away that feeling of being tired and then you realize where you’re at and what happened.”
The area where the men died is now marked with a permanent memorial, marking what was the deadliest day for firefighters since the Sept. 11th Terrorist Attacks. Only one of the crew members survived.
Another person at the memorial on Saturday was Fireman Joe – who walked in full firefighting gear from Los Angeles through part of the Coachella Valley to the site at Yarnell. Fireman Joe decided to make the trek to raise awareness about the Kevin Woyjeck Explorers for Life Association, which assists young men and women in the Fire Explorer Programs with financial support and material donations.
