Living in Prescott and close to the Prescott National Forest is a wonderful blessing. Nonetheless, during the summer months fierce storms with lightning and thunder come and can be a frightening experience, yet this is part of the choice to live in our beautiful mountain town.
A fierce storm blew into Prescott on the last day of June, . With it came lightning and thunder and heavy rainfall. I was sitting in my home office when lightning struck so close that I saw the flash and heard the thunder without delay. I thought that our home may have been hit, and if not, then the huge Alligator Juniper tree located a few feet from our sliding glass door. A few years ago lightning did strike our power pole and blew out the transformer leaving our home and others around us without electricity for several days.
While we were experiencing our storm we did not realize that a fire was already raging about 30 miles away near a small town called Yarnell. It is a lovely little town; I did Census work there a few years ago. In the late afternoon we discovered that 19 firefighters from Prescott died in this Yarnell fire. We did not know the names of these firefighters, so we do not know if any on the list are known to us. We know a girl whose dad is a firefighter with the Prescott Forest Service, and we were concerned that he might be on the list of those that died. Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of these firefighters. It is a difficult time for us in Prescott, but tougher yet for the families of the firefighters who lives were lost in the Yarnell fire.
The names of the 19 dead firefighters were released the next day and their names are: Andrew Ashcraft (Age 29); Robert Caldwell (Age 23); Travis Carter (Age 31); Dustin Deford (Age 24); Christopher MacKenzie (Age 30); Eric Marsh (Age 43); Grant McKee (Age 21); Sean Misner (Age 26); Scott Norris (Age 28); Wade Parker (Age 22); John Percin (Age 24); Anthony Rose (Age 23); Jesse Steed (Age 36); Joe Thurston (Age 32); Travis Turbyfill (Age 27); William Warneke (Age 25); Clayton Whitted (Age 28); Kevin Woyjeck (Age 21); Garret Zuppiger (Age 27). Our friend’s father is not on this list.
A meaningful prayer was received from a friend in California that I feel applies very beautifully to the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots that loss they lives in this world on June 30th.
Our prayers for the souls of those who passed into the Spirit World so abruptly, that they may awaken to the truth of their condition and allow the spirits whose work it is to guide and help them, to help and guide them into their new life. May God Bless them all, and the bereaved loved ones they have left behind.
Tuesday evening my daughter Julia and son James went with me to a Candlelight Vigil where our local newspaper (Prescott Daily Courier) estimated that there were over 5,000 people in attendance. It was held at the football stadium of Prescott High School and was a very emotional evening. The families of the dead firefighters were present, which added to the feelings of loss and grief.
Friday morning I visited the Memorial Fence at the location of the Granite Mountain Hotshot home base on 6th Street. This was my third visit and I am amazed how the tributes keep pouring in from so many different people. What blew me away today was the variety of T-Shirts displayed from Firefighter groups around the USA (and perhaps around the world). I have the idea that tomorrow or Sunday I will have a pen and notebook or camera with me to record the places where these T-Shirts are from. I get emotional when I visit this place. I tried to speak with two young firefighters from Surprise (AZ), but had a difficult time getting my words out. They understood and gave me a hug. Can you believe this?
Another thing that got to me was a display that some child may have created. It was a circle on the ground made with tiny metal fire trucks! How beautiful it was. I pointed it out to a woman taking photos and she immediately took a photo.
Early Sunday morning a week later I again visited the Memorial and Tribute Fence for the 19 Hotshot Crew located on 6th St. in Prescott. Amazing how the tributes keep pouring in from all over the country and the world. While I was taking photos a woman wearing a Red Cross T came up to me to talk. I asked if she is from the Prescott area. She said "No, I am from Santa Cruz, CA; I am here to help during this time of tragedy." I tried to talk more but started to cry and couldn't get my words out. Tears were in her eyes too and she gave me the biggest hug ever ... so genuine and pure. Aren't most people just wonderful and noble and kind?!?
I am writing these reflections on Monday morning, July 8th. They are my experiences of this past week, or as I call it, The Week that Was. There is no way that I could have anticipated the depth of the emotional affect the death of 19 firefighters in Yarnell would have in my life. I am not a young man; I am 78. I have seen much and experienced much in my lifetime. One of the first memories I have of death is when I was a young boy of 9 grieving with my family over the death of our beloved brother during World War II (1944). I have cried numerous other times in my life, but I was not prepared to cry as much as I have this past week after the news of the death of 19 young men, men I do not even know. I cried when I didn't think I would, I felt the pain of the families though I know none of them, and the tributes of strangers placed on a fence surrounding the Granite Mountain Hotshots home quarter on 6th Street continue to move me deeply. The hugs I gave and that I received were with complete strangers and totally unplanned, and the handshakes with firefighters visiting from out of town were more meaningful than I am able to describe. Of course I am sad that this tragedy happened, yet, in some beautiful way, I am grateful that I live in Prescott at this time and very grateful that I was blessed to experience the emotions and feelings that I did.
One person who read a portion of this article wrote a response and said:
“Thank you for sharing this, Joseph. When our hearts break in this unimaginable circumstance, they break open. And we are, thankfully, in a very good way, never the same. We are connected to each other through the heart. Prescott is, through this tragedy, a shining light for the entire world” (Judy Stahl).
– Joseph