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| A young boy holds his hat as he and others stand for the national anthem before the start of the Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo, Wednesday, July 3, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz. A mile-high city about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix, Prescott remains a modern-day outpost of the pioneer spirit. It's that spirit that will guide officials as they navigate the days ahead and figure out how to honor the elite Hotshot firefighters who died in a nearby wind-driven wildfire that is still burning. |
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) -- They remembered the Fourth, but also the 19.
At
Bistro St. Michael on Whiskey Row in this old West town, 19 candles
burned beneath red, white and blue bunting, one for each firefighter
killed last weekend battling a wildfire not far from the place they
called home.
In a quiet neighborhood near the
high school, which at least five of them attended, 19 miniature U.S.
flags were planted in front yards, each pole tied with the purple ribbon
that commemorates fallen firefighters.
At the
makeshift memorial on the fence that wrapped around the elite Hotshots
firefighting team's headquarters, people left 19 potted plants, 19
pinwheels, 19 handwritten cards, 19 religious candles.
On
a day meant to ponder the nation's birth, and those who built and
defended it over 237 years, Prescott's residents had 19 of their
neighbors, their friends, their relatives to remember.
"I
just wanted to thank them and let them know that they're heroes and
that they're missed," said Susan Reynolds, who hung a piece of fabric
with an expression of thanks on a string of panels that hung like a
prayer flag on the fence.
Away from the
celebrations, public memorials and the fireworks planned for later
Thursday, some of the fallen firefighters' families were quietly trying
to come to terms with their own personal loss. Occasionally, relatives
would emerge to speak about the fallen.
"There's
no celebration today," said Laurie McKee, whose 21-year-old nephew,
Grant McKee, died in the fire. "We're doing OK, but it's still up and
down."
McKee's father and aunt picked up items
recovered from his truck on Wednesday night, and were comforted when
the fire chief told them that Grant McKee had been part of "the Navy
Seals of firefighting," his aunt said. His family was planning to spend
the day at home, visiting with relatives flying in for his funeral.
Initial
autopsy results released Thursday showed the firefighters died from
burns, carbon monoxide poisoning or oxygen deprivation, or a combination
of the factors. Their bodies, which are in Phoenix for the autopsies,
were expected to be taken 75 miles northwest to Prescott on Sunday. Each
firefighter will be in a hearse, accompanied by motorcycle escorts,
honor guard members and American flags.
A memorial service planned for Tuesday is expected to draw thousands of mourners, including firefighters' families.
The
Hotshots crew had deployed Sunday to what was thought to be a
manageable lightning-caused forest fire near the small town of Yarnell,
about 60 miles from Phoenix. Violent winds fueled the blaze and trapped
the highly trained firefighters, most of them in the prime of their
lives. The Hotshots deployed their fire shelters, which can briefly
protect people from flames, but only the crew's lookout survived.
The
nation's biggest loss of firefighters since 9/11, Sunday's tragedy
raised questions of whether the usual precautions would have made any
difference in the face of triple-digit temperatures, erratic winds and
dry conditions that caused the fire to explode. A team of forest
managers and safety experts is investigating what went wrong and plan to
release initial findings by the weekend.
Nearly
600 firefighters continue to fight the blaze, and officials expected it
to be up to 85 percent contained by Thursday night. The fire has
destroyed more than 100 homes and burned about 13 square miles. Yarnell
remained evacuated, but authorities hope to allow residents back in by
Saturday.
Operations section chief Carl
Schwope said the morale of firefighters is going up as they move toward
full containment. He said they want to put the fire out as a way to pay
their respect to the fallen firefighters.
"I think we're getting to the point now where this fire's almost out, we'll all go home and it's a whole new reality," he said.
Meanwhile,
Prescott officials were working to retool the city's traditional
over-the-top celebration in the wake of the tragedy. They plan to still
shoot off fireworks despite tinder-dry conditions as the community of
40,000 tries to mourn its dead without compromising its history. The
mantra for days has been celebration, not grief.
Fire officials say they will be able to deploy the pyrotechnics safely, pouring water on the detonation area if necessary.
Across
town from the July Fourth carnival, the wife of the Hotshots leader and
founder spoke publically about her husband, Eric Marsh, for the first
time since his death.
"Eric was 90 percent a Granite Mountain Hotshot, and the 10 percent was left for us," Amanda Marsh said.
Greg
Fine, whose daughter Leah had been engaged to McKee, circled the
memorial at the Hotshots headquarters, taking photos of the tributes to
the man who was to be his son-in-law.
On his
shirt, he wore a laminated photo of McKee with his daughter, who was
grinning with short bleach blond hair. They had been engaged for 1 1/2
years. Fine said his daughter is avoiding the crowds. She and her father
plan to spend the afternoon with McKee's family at home.
"We're
going to probably laugh and cry and have something to eat, and then
laugh and cry some more," he said. Then he said he was glad other
residents were celebrating the Fourth.
"Life has to go on," he said.
