She worried how she would react. It was approaching 5 p.m., and the winds were now coming from the north at 26 mph, with gusts to 43 mph. Juliann Ashcraft, a widow of a Granite Mountain Hotshot, said she left Prescott, Ariz., to spare her children the discomfort of whispers and glares. 'I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting my children, be figuring out what our new normal is.'. out can be far more revealing than what they choose to include. Mr Ashcraft, like his colleagues, was protecting the people of Yarnell when he died, tragically leaving his young family without a husband, father or income. Juliann told "Today" that Andrew replied . Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. Roxanne recognized the hotshot crews called into help, including Blue Ridge from Happy Jack. Within six years of its beginning as a fuels mitigation unit in 2002, the Granite Mountain group had joined the elite Hotshot community the first such crew attached to a municipal department. Harry is an ex-Marine with friends who are firefighters, so he, too, was tracking the fire. He listened intently as she recounted her dream. Wednesdays lawsuit by the families, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, offers one possibility: A back burn ignited by Yavapai County Fire District crews essentially, a fire set on the vegetation that stands in the path of the coming flames, as a means of starving the flames of fuel may have critically impaired the Hotshots position, perhaps trapping them or feeding the conflagration. A contagious smile, a heart of gold. Just days after the men's deaths, Mrs Ashcraft revealed the last conversation she had with her husband - and her fears when he never responded to her text messages. Hot shot crews are elite firefighters who often hike for miles into the wilderness with chain saws and backpacks filled with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and fires. surviving family members also sued the town for three hundred million "They loved what they did. is itself merely a one-sidedly useful artifice. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. In fact, he was one of 19 wildland firefighters who died in the line of duty that day, with just one member of the crew surviving. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/AllenGBreed, Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Roxanne buried Billy in the veterans sections of a cemetery in Marana, with full military honors, not far from where they lived. 'That's what it takes. 'The best person I know. Andrew Ashcraft was only in his third season with the Hotshots, but he'd been working toward the job for years. Last year, Deborah, who lives in Prescott, delivered fresh fruit and beef jerky to crews working on the Tenderfoot Fire in Yarnell. Yet as I The boys have visited stations and gotten to climb on the engines. "Welcome to Yarnell," he hollered facetiously. It was the deadliest wildfire ever in Arizona;19 men on the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew out of Prescott were killed. Firefighters battling a blaze in Yarnell, Ariz., last year. The crew had barely gotten home from a different blaze when word came that the team was needed again. 'Now I have four kids and myself, and I don't know what I'm going to do. This is the place for a spoiler alert, which, however, wont be a spoiler fool, getting into fights, getting arrested, getting kicked out of his All 19 hotshot families will receive worker's compensation and a one-time federal payment of $328,000. / CBS News. after Prince Harry Is this the real reason Amazon 'axed' Jeremy Clarkson? 'He had some athletic ability in him and he was a go-getter, too. In the months that followed, tributes on storefronts, on bumper stickers and along the mesh-iron fence surrounding Station 7, the firefighters home base stood as glaring reminders of a tragedy no one here has forgotten. In the end, the house Billy had dreamed of, the one he promised Roxanne, was built by firefighters, friends and neighbors, and complete strangers who donated money, time, labor and supplies. Roxanne Warneke, riding shotgun, rolled down her window. "I will fire fight the fires.". After a two-day hearing, the retirement board of the city of Prescott voted to award the enhanced benefits to the family of Andrew Ashcraft, who perished last June along with 12 other seasonal or part-time members and six full-time members of the elite Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew in the largest loss of firefighters' lives since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The couple was still playful. As time wore on, Willis got back on the phone. I feel like we need to do something for these guys, she said. Lawton even joked with some new residents watching the flames from their front yards. Still, at first, officials determined this blaze to be small, posing no immediate threat to Yarnell's 700 residents. Ashcraft's plans may soon include a lawsuit against the city. A municipal firefighter, in the common use of that term, is not a wildland firefighter: Its the red truck guy, Mr. Paladini told the board, composed of four members, including two members of the Prescott Fire Department, whose Wildland Division employed the fallen firefighters, and the citys mayor, Marlin Kuykendall. A thunderstorm was brewing, and the winds had shifted nearly 180 degrees sending flames racing into Yarnell, where Lawton's small, block home sat at the base of a hill. Then in the next breath he added, "I want to be Batman.". President Obama called the firefighters heroes and highly skilled professionals who 'put themselves in harm's way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet.'. He'd been just 4 years old when he literally burst into her life. . Andrew Ashcraft, pictured left, was one of the 19 firefighters who died. Ad Choices, The Familial Furies of Noah Baumbachs The Meyerowitz Stories, Harvey Weinstein and the Illusion of the Vulgar But Passionate Old-Hollywood Studio Boss, The Wildfires Ravaging Northern California. displays of the arts peculiarities and pitfalls. YARNELL, Ariz. Juliann Ashcraft had just put the kids down for a nap when her cellphone buzzed. The 19 remaining Hotshots were deploying their emergency fire shelters lightweight cocoons made of reflective material intended as a firefighter's last resort. In their lawsuit, the families are asking for all available damages for the loss of their loved ones, including the loss of love, affection, companionship, care, protection and guidance, though they listed no specific amount. Roxanne picked up Billie Grace and showed it to her. attempting to get that honor on the cheap. Click here to share your story. When they were found on Sunday, all 19 shelters were deployed but some of the men's bodies were inside their individual shelters, while others were outside - indicating just how suddenly they were overcome by the flames. pregnant. They got on the road, leaving baby Owen at home with a sitter. 'It had to be a perfect storm in order for this to happen,' Prescott Fire Department spokesman Wade Ward told the Today show last month. The firefighters are, the lawsuit says, the brightest spot in this story of incompetent mismanagement.. no more room for discussions between Eric and Amanda about the The unfamiliar truck pulled up to the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District station, where crews were stopping to pick up supplies on their way to the Sawmill Fire. Roxanne had married Billy in 2008, but they had known each other since high school. CBS News has seen paperwork showing Mr Ashcraft did infact earn a full-time salary as a firefighter for the city of Prescott. She doesn't want the smell of smoke to ever make her feel the way her mother did for so long. You have to live it. Roxanne said. Carter Evans speaks with . Around 6 a.m., Darrell Willis, chief of the Prescott Fire Department's Wildland Fire Division, was loading his truck with containers of eggs, sausage, potatoes and fruit for the crews when his phone rang. that were being denied them, city officials fueled only hostility, Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Maybe, thought Willis, they're just out of radio contact. ", "How did you hear that?" But the city of Prescott, where the Hotshots were based, is now claiming he was a seasonal worker, despite him working a 40 hour week year round, and denying Mrs Ashcraft full benefits. She was named Billie Grace, for her father. Anyone can read what you share. 'We're devastated. Roxanne still tells Billie Grace stories about her father, and Billie Grace tells them to Harry. As depicted in the movie, nineteen of the twenty members of Around the corner, Jennifer Parks of Phoenix was trying to explain to her 6-year-old son, Jake, that this was not where the fallen firefighters were buried. A crew of 600 firefighters and related personnel had been assigned to it. Then his cellphone rang. Please enter valid email address to continue. Once known as "Rich Hill" for the acres of gold nuggets discovered by prospectors in the 1860s, the town lies 80 miles northwest of Phoenix at 4,800 feet above sea level, leading to the motto, "Where a Desert Breeze Meets the Mountain Air.". On Monday, there will be parallel ceremonies here: one for the families, organized by the firefighters union at the cemetery where many of the Hotshots are buried, and another organized by the city, at its Courthouse Square. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. In 2015, she was caught off guard when she got a whiff of the Finger Rock Fire in Tucson from a distance and had a panic attack. Students step up to make playground inclusive for those with disabilities. I was able to beat back the anxiety, she said. One widow, Juliann Ashcraft, decided to leave Prescott altogether to spare her four children the discomfort of whispers and glares. As a result of the dispute, there were two separate memorial services held for the fallen firefightersone organized by their union, one run by the city of Prescott. "It's a whole different animal with them," said Christian, whose crew had been dispatched last Sunday to help fight the fire. That afternoon Juliann texted to report that it was raining at their house in nearby Prescott. Mr. become close friends, and Mac matures, largely through Donuts but something troubled in their past shadows their daily lives. In 2015, Roxanne had joined Juliann Ashcraft, whose husband, Andrew, also was killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire, and Andrew's mother, Deborah Pfingston, to form the Wildland Firefighter. Roxanne would take her daughter to Billys grave with flowers and his dog. In fact, he was one of 19 wildland firefighters who died in the line of duty that day, with just one member of the crew surviving. who is also Donuts most vicious harasser. Whats Each man's family prayed that their son-husband-brother had been the lucky one. He was very upset with the entire City Council because they made it so hard for him to get benefits for that position, Amanda Marsh said. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Gov. The movie Southwest incident team leader Clay Templin said the team and its commanders were following safety protocols, but it appears the fire's erratic nature simply overwhelmed them. stirring, effective, patriotic propaganda for a picture of America that As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Because even though Billie Grace never got to meet her father, Roxanne wants her to remember him. Ariz. firefighters wife: They were heroes, battling the out-of-control wildfire Sunday. Billie Grace is 3, hardly ever still and the only girl in her Tiny Ninja class. She said she learned of her husband's death while watching the news with their four children. Ashcraft, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was honored to be a member of the Hotshot crew, and 'he just had a really sweet spirit about him,' Elise Smith, a Prescott, Arizona, resident, told The Deseret News of Salt Lake City. decisions that go into the composition and the telling of stories have a stretched out over more than 40,000 acres. She wants Billie Grace to meet people who did the work her father did. Juliann Ashcraft lost her husband, Andrew . Confused: Juliann Ashcraft, pictured, is fighting with the city of Prescott for the benefits she is being denied, Children: Mrs Ashcraft, pictured, was left to raise her four children alone. Because shewants her daughter to respect fire, to be mindful of it, but not to be afraid. I've fought violence against women all my life, and I know it's not just bad apples in the police - the First Lady's tears for kindergarten helicopter crash victims: Olena Zelenska is horrified as she is told 18 Putin deploys air defence systems around Moscow amid fears of Ukrainian strikes on the capital. Ashcraft's widow, Juliann Ashcraft, who has been the most prominent family member fighting to win full benefits for the families of the seasonal Hotshots, didn't testify at the hearing, but. "Did you hear that?" With family and friends to look after the children, she headed to Prescott's Mile High Middle School to grieve with the other families. "But I hate it now.". emphasis on Eric and Brendans personal lives. influence.). Billie Grace is headstrong and independent. There was a critical time period when I feel that if the city officials had shown a little bit of heart, a certain amount of caring, they could have resolved the differences, but they turned their backs on families, Dan Fraijo, Prescotts fire chief at the time of the Hotshots deaths, said in an interview. Family photographs reveal a picture perfect family as Juliann and Andrew are seen grinning and kissing, as well as laughing along with their four young children. That Sunday morning, Ashcraft and the other 19 members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew had been deployed to the ranching community of Yarnell to fight yet another wildfire. regarding themand about their locale and American times at hidden in plain sight in this report is that, for nearly three years, One widow, Juliann Ashcraft, decided to leave Prescott altogether to spare her four children the discomfort of whispers and glares. 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