Free Republic

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.

The young widow of a firefighter who died with 18 others while battling an Arizona wildfire in June has reportedly been denied the lifetime benefits she sought to raise the couple’s four children. Juliann Ashcraft, 28, said she will receive workers’ compensations and a one-time federal payment of $328,000 in the death of her 29-year-old husband Andrew, who was among the Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed on June 30 while fighting a wildfire near Yarnell, CBS reports. “I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting my children, be figuring out what our new normal...

As the procession escorting the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots home came past the courthouse plaza in Prescott late Sunday afternoon, more than a thousand people stopped talking. Some put their hands over their hearts, while others clapped. Children waved flags, and many cried. "We want these young families to know how much we appreciate the sacrifice their loved ones made to protect us," Barb Corkle said. "We want to show them that we love them, that we will help them by making donations, and whatever else we can do." The 19 elite firefighters died while attacking the Yarnell Hill Fire...