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One year ago today, 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots wildland fire crew died during the Yarnell Hill fire in central Arizona. We in Prescott will pause today to remember our fallen heroes.

Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a memorial service for 19 "Hot Shot" firefighters killed battling the Yarnell Hill wildfire in Prescott, Arizona. The memorial takes place at the Tim's Toyota Center Arena in Prescott Valley. This is so much more than just a memorial service - it's honoring 19 young men who lived their dream of serving their fellow citizens. They are mostly in their 20's with about a dozen fatherless children under the age of six. Several wives are expecting children within the next several months. The 6,000 seats inside the arena are filled with family, invited...

Arizona Republic - allows title and link only. Full title of accompanying article: Yarnell Hill Fire: 'It's something you never want to see again' http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20130706yarnell-hill-fire-remembrance.html

It has been a rough week. Most of us in the Prescott area have been walking around as though we entered a bad dream, not quite believing what transpired on that hill in Yarnell. We may have tried to pick ourselves up, go to the rodeo, watch the parade and then the tragic reality jolts us back to a state of sorrow. We are trying to absorb the whole thing, accept the facts, but in churches around town yesterday, many of us sat waiting for comfort, and maybe even answers from someone with divine knowledge. "God, why did this happen?"...

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — The notoriously rambunctious annual rodeo contest in Prescott added a solemn new ritual this week: a cowboy leading a riderless horse around the outdoor arena, a fire helmet sitting on its saddle, fire boots resting in the stirrups. Spectators in this Old West town of 40,000 placed straw hats over hearts and cried quietly during the tribute to the 19 firefighters who were killed Sunday, then went on to drink, laugh and cheer as heartily as the miners and ranchers who patronized the arena in the 1800s. Emotional whiplash has become a matter of course here...

Above: Juliann Ashcraft, wife of Granite Mountain Hotshot Andrew Ashcraft, is consoled by her father-in-law Tom Ashcraft while looking at a memorial outside of Prescott Fire Department Station No. 7 where the Granite Mountain Hotshots are based, Monday morning in Prescott.  (Matt Hinshaw/The Daily Courier).-- Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, based in Prescott, Ariz., were killed Sunday evening when a windblown wildfire overcame them north of Phoenix. It was the deadliest single day for U.S. firefighters since Sept. 11. Fourteen of the victims were in their 20s. Family members of the 19 fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots gathered at the hotshots'...

PRESCOTT - Family members of the 19 fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots gathered at the hotshots' station along 6th Street in Prescott late Monday morning to console each other and gather the belongings of their loved ones. Juliann Ashcraft, wife of fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighter Andrew Ashcraft, was among them. She walked out of the fire station holding her husband's hotshot sweater. She stopped to talk briefly with people gathered in front of the fire station at a makeshift memorial. About the same time, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett was talking about how his family members saw Juliann Sunday...