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State Retirement Board Rules Full Benefits For Granite Mountain Hotshot

The family of a fallen Granite Mountain Hotshot will receive full retirement benefits.

The Prescott board of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System approved full retirement benefits for Andrew Ashcraft.

The 4-1 vote came at the end of two days of hearings in Prescott City Council chambers.

The hearing was over Ashcraft's family claim that he was eligible for participation in the retirement system and the family is entitled to survivor benefits.

Since the deaths of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots last June in the Yarnell Hill Fire, the city has contended that only six of the Hotshots were permanent employees and entitled to full survivor death benefits.

The remaining 13, including Ashcraft, were considered temporary seasonal employees and the city says they weren't entitled to full survivor benefits.

Steve Goldstein was a host at KJZZ from 1997 to 2022.