A cursory search for one of them, Joe Thurston, turned up a Prescott News article from June 7, 2016, headlined Prescott Approves Survivor Benefits for Widow of Wildland With their deaths, the department lost 20 per cent of its members. Ariz. firefighters wife: They were heroes, battling the out-of-control wildfire Sunday. As they unloaded the truck, Roxanne could smell the fire. "It was brown, then it was black, it then turned red and the flames topped the hill," Lawton would later recall. Juliann Ashcraft's husband Andrew was a three-year veteran of the Granite Mountain Hotshots - and one of the 19 firefighters killed Sunday in the Arizona wildfire. It was about 7 p.m. when a television announcer came on with the report: A Hotshot crew had been overrun near Yarnell. As a Prescott fire official would later recount, McDonough told his team to contact him on the radio if they needed anything. There was a critical time period when I feel that if the city officials had shown a little bit of heart, a certain amount of caring, they could have resolved the differences, but they turned their backs on families, Dan Fraijo, Prescotts fire chief at the time of the Hotshots deaths, said in an interview. Chilling moment Plymouth gunman Jake Davison strolled along the road wielding shotgun as he murdered five People who drink alcohol more than once a WEEK are at higher risk of internet, gaming and exercise 'The tears, the time together lost': Kirstie Allsopp admits 'one of her greatest regrets' is forcing her Well, that fell a bit flat (white)! Whats the point of living a life if you arent happy?. largeas anything in the movie. delivered with familiar histrionics.) Juliann Ashcraft's husband, Andrew, was one of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters who lost their lives when a fire they were battling suddenly changed direction and engulfed them. Market data provided by Factset. The unfamiliar truck pulled up to the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District station, where crews were stopping to pick up supplies on their way to the Sawmill Fire. out can be far more revealing than what they choose to include. Juliann Ashcraft said her husband took on a new position as "lead saw" this season and that crew chief Eric Marsh, who also died in the fire, had pursued benefits for him. dollars in damages.) The elite team, Ashcraft said, were like a family. Wednesdays lawsuit by the families, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, offers one possibility: A back burn ignited by Yavapai County Fire District crews essentially, a fire set on the vegetation that stands in the path of the coming flames, as a means of starving the flames of fuel may have critically impaired the Hotshots position, perhaps trapping them or feeding the conflagration. That's why he did what he did, because he want to protect the community where he lived. Within six years of its beginning as a fuels mitigation unit in 2002, the Granite Mountain group had joined the elite Hotshot community the first such crew attached to a municipal department. Thats for your daddy, she told her. The script, by Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer, puts exceptional discipline and the book studies and becomes an integral part of the Harry will ask, How did you sleep?, I slept good, she told him. watched the movie, I felt that something was missing (including the Now Roxanne was headed to the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District station, near the first fire she had confronted since then. That Sunday, Granite Mountain Hotshot Brendan McDonough was the eyes for the other 19 assigned to a nearby hillside to provide reports to the crew and keep watch on "trigger points," locations that when reached or crossed by a fire dictate a move to safer ground. You gotta be very physically fit, and you gotta like it, gotta like the hard work.'. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The lone no vote came from Prescott Mayor Marlin Kuykendall, who said he shared everyone's sympathy for the surviving families but felt he needed more time to wade through the relevant laws and statutes governing firefighters' retirement benefits. Photograph by Columbia Pictures via Everett, deemed some of its firefighters to be temporary or seasonal,, Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard. She would whisper stories to Billie Grace about her daddy long before she could possibly understand. While her. 'We could sure use some rain over here,' he said. Mr Ashcraft also sent his wife a picture of their view of the smoke and flames from his team's lunch spot on Sunday, and Juliann said that she was not particularly concerned when she saw it. Most of the fire activity had been restricted to the north end of the blaze. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. A municipal firefighter, in the common use of that term, is not a wildland firefighter: Its the red truck guy, Mr. Paladini told the board, composed of four members, including two members of the Prescott Fire Department, whose Wildland Division employed the fallen firefighters, and the citys mayor, Marlin Kuykendall. Juliann Ashcraft and her husband Andrew were twenty-somethings with four young children when he died in the line of duty in Prescott, Arizona on June 30, 2013. In the months that followed, tributes on storefronts, on bumper stickers and along the mesh-iron fence surrounding Station 7, the firefighters home base stood as glaring reminders of a tragedy no one here has forgotten. Just days after the men's deaths, Mrs Ashcraft revealed the last conversation she had with her husband - and her fears when he never responded to her text messages. A widow whose husband was killed courageously fighting a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona five weeks ago is being denied the lifetime benefits she was counting on to raise the couple's four young children alone. As a municipal company, the She told them she had brought fruit. Less then two days after Andrew Ashcraft's life was taken, Juliann Ashcraft spoke about her husband and the other members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew. To expand the content of Only the Brave would entail expanding its Autopsies of the 19 firefighters have been conducted, and an investigation into what happened here begun. "They all laid out there that night.". displays of the arts peculiarities and pitfalls. 2023 Cond Nast. As the Hotshots attacked the blaze from the ground and aircraft dropped retardant from above, Yarnell school board member Eric Lawton was returning home from a trip. Some of the more vocal widows became the target of stinging criticism; in online forums and letters to the editors, people called them greedy, disgusting or worse. Ill say, Billie Grace, you need to listen to me, and she will say, No, Mom, you need to listen to me. It is hard for Roxanne not to laugh. Relatively little has been known about the Presidents father, whose story reveals a familys fraught relationship with money, class, and alcohol. When Andrew was home, he was the center of the family. "This is where people come to pay their respects.". At 4:47 p.m., Eric Marsh did radio to fire commanders, and his message was utterly terrifying. The City of Prescott is not named in this lawsuit, though it is named in a separate suit filed Wednesdayby Ms. Ashcraft, Ms. Warneke and Amanda Misner, another widow. He called his wife first, and then the head of the Prescott Fire Department. He sent a photo of where he was sitting and what the fire looked like for them, at their lunch spot, Ashcraft said on TODAY Tuesday. Juliann Ashcraft and her husband Andrew were twenty-somethings with four young children when he died in the line of duty in Prescott, Arizona on June 30, 2013. "They never think it will happen to them.. At the time, Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said the 19 firefighters were a part of the city's fire department. And she wasglad she brought Billie Grace. concerns, the connections to contemporary life and societal currents at All rights reserved. A crew of 600 firefighters and related personnel had been assigned to it. In their lawsuit, the families are asking for all available damages for the loss of their loved ones, including the loss of love, affection, companionship, care, protection and guidance, though they listed no specific amount. The art of storytelling is treacherous, and the new film Only the This day, so far, had been different. She was eating pizza with friends when the boy rushed up to her and asked if she could sew a button back on his shirt. nickname Donut), but Donut masters the necessary tough physical Mac (Taylor Kitsch), a sexually crude and emotionally stunted colleague is itself merely a one-sidedly useful artifice. She wants her to see her mother supporting the works they do, in honor of Billy. Our kids will remember them as heroes as well.. That legal designation means that, despite Erics profound Final moments: Mrs Ashcraft shared the final image Andrew Ashcraft texted her before the 19 firefighters were killed by the flames, An honorary flagpole is shown at the site where the 19 firefighters died, The devastation has been described as a 'moonscape' after an inferno so intense that only the metal part of one chain saw was found, 'It still did not look as catastrophic as it turned out to be,' she said. are embodied in the storytelling methods of classic Hollywood movies, We love them.'. They pay to replace or update equipment. Boy, 15, is convicted of murdering software engineer who was stabbed in the chest after a row at an Asda Money saving guru Martin Lewis reveals easy FIRST step to clearing thousands of pounds in debt, Farmer, 71, who appeared on BBC documentary This Farming Life is killed by one of his own cows. In fact, he was one of 19 wildland firefighters who died in the line of duty that day, with just one member of the crew surviving. For a short time, no one knew who the lone survivor was. Carter Evans speaks with Ashcraft's widow, who was receiving text messages from him right to the end. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. When some of the widows sought the benefits Back in Prescott, Juliann Ashcraft was watching television with her children Ryder, 6; Shiloh, 4; Tate Andrew, 2; and Choice, 1. They are also receiving free tuition at Arizona universities for their children, in addition to private donations, which have surpassed $4 million, according to a recent tally by the 100 Club, a charity that benefits firefighters and public safety workers. its emphasis on individual initiative and private conflicts in isolation Nothing of the sort is even hinted at in Only the Brave. The movie has Only the Brave excludes an entire world of activity thats integral to understanding the Granite Mountain Hotshots lives and locale, and American times at large. Because the town of Prescott deemed some of its firefighters to be temporary or seasonal, those victims families were denied the benefits that were being But Mrs Ashcraft, still mourning the loss of her 29-year-old hero, is desperate for help, as the costs associated with bringing up four children mount. Each man's family prayed that their son-husband-brother had been the lucky one. ", "I want to be a fire man," he wrote. "The city has fully complied with all of the laws and employment policies that direct survivor benefits," the statement said. So Roxanne still follows the progress of fires online, like she used to when Billy was on the job. Much is made in "They were heroes to the people that they helped there. In fact, he was one of 19 wildland firefighters who died in the line of duty that day, with just one member of the crew surviving. 'I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting my children, be figuring out what our new normal is.'. "No, honey," she said gently. "I love what I do, and we're going to be OK.". But the smoke was so thick crews could only guess at where to drop their loads. I wanted to take her so she could have a positive outlook on fire instead of a negative one, Roxanne said. Harry loaded 20 cases of oranges and 16 bags of apples, about 350 pounds in all, onto a cart and then into their truck. He had been saying all season that this would be his last as a Hotshot. "I think I will be down there for a while on this one," 29-year-old Ashcraft had told his wife via text. Teller), a slacker and a stoner, has gotten a young woman (Natalie Hall) And then another, and another. 'And we'll miss them. Her stepson, Travis, was a member of the Granite Mountain team. influence.). 'They died heroes,' she told azcentral.com as she wept. timely reminder that stories are decisions, that theres no such thing These are people who risk their own lives every day," Roxanne said. Juliann Ashcraft's husband was among the 19 firefighters who were killed five weeks ago while battling a huge blaze in Yarnell, AZ the deadliest wildfire of the past 80 years. the company died, on June 30, 2013, while fighting a wildfire, and Donut Restore radiance: This 8.99 'incredible' skin-brightening serum Amazon shoppers swear by gives you a 'Barely feels like you're wearing anything': Calvin Klein's bestselling signature cotton bralette is now 56% Shamima Begum boasts her journey to Syria was 'easy' and says she never considered turning back as BBC Two killed by 'armed' chickens: Men bleed to death after being sliced by knives fixed to roosters at Law student, 26, was told 'you sound like you're feeling a bit sorry for yourself' by nurse before dying, How did serial-prankster gain access to BBC studio? It was about 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, 2013 when Juliann Ashcraft started getting alarming phone messages from friends. Roxanne still tells Billie Grace stories about her father, and Billie Grace tells them to Harry. All rights reserved. the local fire chief, Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges, in a performance Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. It was everything to him. Helicopter crash near Ukraine kindergarten kills children and top officials, U.S. lawyer who died in Mexico was "victim of a brutal crime," family says, Excessive speed listed as cause of crash that killed Georgia football player, Qantas plane lands safely on single engine after mayday call over Pacific, New Mexico lawmaker says shootings suspect confronted her outside her home, Gov. He insisted on tucking the children in each night and leading them in their prayers. The fire has also destroyed an estimated 200 homes. Widow of fallen Arizona firefighter recalls his last day. "Haven't heard from him all day. Juliann Ashcraft, the widow of fallen firefighter Andrew Ashcraft, one of 19 men who sacrificed his life battling a wildfire Sunday outside of Yarnell, Ariz., discussed the final text messages and photos she shared with her husband hours before he died. Outside of the love he shared for his family members, hotshot firefighting was his life, his wife said. wildfire-fighting outfit in Prescott, Arizona, thats relegated to Type They were heroes in our home, they were heroes in our community," she said. Juliann Ashcraft was swapping texts with her firefighter husband, who was off battling the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona. Whats more, several of the movies main characters were involved in the dispute: Hotshot leader Eric Marshs widow, Amanda,remembers her husband talking about how Prescott officials held back on Andrew Ashcraft when he became full-time. Andrew Ashcraft was only in his third season with the Hotshots, but he'd been working toward the job for years. When Travis was in kindergarten, he drew a picture of a fire truck and titled it, "When I grow up. 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. She told her husband how much she wished he could be there, watching the drops fall with her and the kids. suspect, was the furthest thing from the filmmakers intentions. He can be reached at features@ap.org. "Did you hear that?" Their focus is wildland firefighter safety:"We will champion firefighter safety through independent investigations, education and real life support for firefighter, family and the fire community.". There for a short time, no one knew who the lone survivor was negative one, Roxanne said and. Elite team, Ashcraft said, were like a family familys fraught relationship with money class! Radio to fire commanders, and We 're going to be a fire truck and titled it, `` I. Be his last as a Prescott fire official would later recount, McDonough told his team to him... 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