Background
The Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial in Yarnell, Arizona was created to memorialize the nineteen Hotshots who gave their lives fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire. A hotshot is a highly trained and experienced wildland firefighter. These wildland firefighters start the initial attack and stay for the extended attack. This memorial opened on the 30th of November 2016. The memorial consists of two different sites, the 19 rock baskets in a circle and the bronze wildland statue. Although to understand the reason for a memorial, one must understand what happened that day. The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire in Arizona which was started by lighting on June 28, 2013. On June 29 the fire increased and began to spread outside the area of containment. The Granite Mountain Hotshots began to hike towards the front of the fire to construct a fire line. Although while on the hike through the unburned area toward a safety zone the wind shifted and started directing the fire towards them. With very little time the Hotshot crew had to deploy fire shelters, although these shelters did not protect them from the intense wildfire as the temperatures were exceeding 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, the Yarnell Hill Fire resulted in nineteen deaths as everyone on the crew died except for one who left the crew earlier that day. The crew was later found a mile from their last-known location as communication was lost with the crew and no one knew why they moved from their location. Despite the crew disappearing for thirty minutes then calling a mayday, the Yarnell Hill Fire is also impactful due to the fact it was the greatest wildland firefighter deaths since the 1933 Griffith Park Fire. The Granite Mountain Hotshot crew is important to remember as, although they lost their lives, they changed future wildland firefighting tactics. The memorials consist of nineteen rock baskets, 19 granite plaques, and a bronze statue.
The Memorial
The initial thought of a monument started on February 11th, 2014, which the Arizona House of Representatives introduced a bill to buy the land of the Yarnell Fire and create a memorial park. The memorial park would be the first Arizona memorial state park. As a result, the bill passed in 2015, and the Arizona State Parks Department bought the 320-acre area of land. To commemorate the crew that lost their lives battling the blaze the parks department names the park the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park. At the beginning of the park in 2015 the original plan was just to have the trial to the site where the 19 members lost their lives with steel baskets encircling the area to protect the site out of respect to the ones lost. After a year of establishing the trails and outlooks the Arizona State Park department decided to add chains to connect the steel baskets in June of 2016. Although these chains will provide security for the site of the accident, the chains have a deeper meaning. The chains are a symbol to the public of the connection and teamwork the Hotshots went through and that they will always be connected. Also, along the trail to the site where the crew lost their lives nineteen granite memorial plaques were added to large rocks to introduce the public to every member of the crew who died. The park was finally complete in late November of 2016 and opened to the public finally. Although the monument was finished in 2016 with steel baskets and nineteen granite plaques, in 2018 a statue was added. Ever since opening the memorial the family members always wanted a statue, in 2018 Mike Rowe donated a statue to the memorial. The bronze statue that stands at the trail head of the state park was built by Matt Glenn from Provo, Utah incorporated details like no other statue. Each body part of the statue resembles one of the nineteen crew members. As a result, Matt Glenn took a feature from each hotshot, so the statue resembles everyone. Matt Glenn even took into detail the stance of the statue which has a determined look. The detail to the determined stance portrays to the public of how determined this group of men were and how much they cared about the job at hand. The idea of the statue and incorporating the attributes of each crew member allowed the public to feel familiar and connected to each of the hotshot’s stories.
Message
The monument not only symbolizes the determination and faith the crew had in each other but symbolizes how we can improve the training and equipment. Though it is just a memorial for the crew members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots this Memorial sparked many to learn about the lack of awareness provided to these wildland firefighters. On the Hotshot crew the equipment was hand me downs from other crews and there was a lack of education. As a result, the a few of the widows and mothers who lost loved ones came up with an institute, Wildland Firefighter Guardian Institute. These women promote for better training and equipment for the wildland firefighter companies that cannot. The message from this monument is not only about the crew but the current firefighters and future.
“If anything, beautiful has come out of this tragedy, it is that people are being educated about the wildland community, not only the hotshots but smoke jumpers, pounders, incident commanders, engine jumpers, the work they do and the danger they face.”
Deborah Pfingston
Although the monument itself is there to resemble the lost crew from the Granite Mountain Hotshots it educates the public. The nineteen granite plaques along the trail inform the public of everyone’s story and allow for a deeper connection to the crew. Although the monument is there to commemorate the nineteen members that lost their lives battling the Yarnell Hill Fire, it also opens people’s minds to how dangerous Wildland firefighting is.
Works Cited
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Foskett, Janelle. “Granite Mountain Hotshots: The Firefighting Team That Died Battling the Yarnell Hill Fire.” FireRescue1, FireRescue1, 24 June 2024, www.firerescue1.com/yarnell-hill/articles/granite-mountain-hotshots-the-firefighting-team-that-died-battling-the-yarnell-hill-fire-Ot1BJ3uUG8US1wkI/.
Foskett, Janelle. “How the Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots Reached Millions.” FireRescue1, FireRescue1, 25 June 2024, www.firerescue1.com/granite-mountain-hotshots/articles/how-the-story-of-the-granite-mountain-hotshots-reached-millions-bt2OZ5Zf15ZtvmRS/.
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Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park | Arizona Highways, www.arizonahighways.com/article/granite-mountain-hotshots-memorial-state-park. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
“Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 June 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_Mountain_Hotshots_Memorial_State_Park.
Heinsius, Ryan. “Sole Survivor of Yarnell Hill Fire Acknowledges the Last Decade Has Been Tough.” NPR, NPR, 30 June 2023, www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1185266441/sole-survivor-of-yarnell-hill-fire-acknowledges-the-last-decade-has-been-tough.
Latch, Lacey. “What’s Planned to Honor Fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots 10 Years after Yarnell Hill Fire.” The Arizona Republic, Arizona Republic, 27 Nov. 2023, www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/06/16/a-decade-since-yarnell-hill-fire-here-is-how-the-granite-mountain-hotshots-will-be-memorialized/70319352007/.
“Statue: Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park.” Statue | Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park, azstateparks.com/hotshots/the-hotshots/statue. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
“Yarnell Hill Fire.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarnell_Hill_Fire.
