Yarnell Hill Fire

Hundreds gathered on the lawns of the Yavapai County Courthouse on Friday afternoon to memorialize the legacies of the 19 elite Granite Mountain Hotshots who lost their lives in the violent, sudden firestorm that fell on them a decade ago.

The Show spoke with Frances Lechner, president of the Yarnell Area Resource Group, about the 10-year anniversary of the Yarnell Hill Fire and what the day means.

Nine years ago, the Yarnell fire took the lives of 19 hotshot firefighters. Members of the community near where the fire occurred still feel the effects of the tragedy today.

The small town of Yarnell near Prescott was almost destroyed by a wildfire in 2013. In the process of saving the town, 19 firefighters with the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed. On Saturday, the town of about 600 people dedicated its memorial to the men who died saving their community.

The town of Yarnell will hold a ceremony honoring the Granite Mountain Hotshots this Sunday, six years to the day that 19 of them died battling the Yarnell Hill Fire.

In the summer of 2013, one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history killed 19 firefighters from Prescott. The Granite Mountain Hotshots were cut off from their escape route and the shelters they carried could not withstand the fire’s heat. Their story is now immortalized in the film “Only The Brave."

KJZZ reporter Laurel Morales remembers the phone call that came just as she put her kids to bed and set her on the hardest assignment she's ever had to cover.

New videos have been released from last summer’s deadly Yarnell Hill fire. The images and sounds help give a sense of the day 19 elite firefighters died in the small-town wildfire.

On this day a year ago, the community of Prescott was waking up to the horrific news that 19 of their own had died in the Yarnell Hill Fire. On the anniversary the town was still healing from the enormous loss.

The Yarnell Hill Fire left about a third of the town's residents without a place to live. Rebuilding efforts are still ongoing. But that won’t stop Yarnell from celebrating this weekend.