He responded that he wished for that too. These men worked together," she said. Death toll: The Yarnell wildfire is the deadliest wildfire involving firefighters in the U.S. for at least 30 years. Read more here. Mr. We love them.'. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, Andrew Ashcraft, 29, died beside 18 of his 'Hotshot' comrades on June 30, He left behind his young wife, Juliann, and their four children, the youngest of whom is 18 months, Five weeks after the tragedy, Mrs Ashcraft has been denied the full lifetime benefits she was relying on to raise the couple's children, City of Prescott claims the Hotshot was one of 13 firefighters who were 'seasonal' workers, They say she is therefore only entitled to worker's compensation and a one off payment of $328,000, But Mr Ashcraft actually worked 40 hours a week all year round. Helicopters had been unable to reach the highly-trained men as they fought the flames in Yarnell and they could not be saved by their emergency shelters - tent-like structures meant to shield them from flames and heat. regarding themand about their locale and American times at Her husband, Andrew, 29, was a former rookie of the year on the team and the father of four children, all younger than the age of 6. Andrew Ashcraft's widow wept in the audience as the Prescott, Ariz., retirement board decided her family deserved full-time survivor payments. Brave is spare, clear, direct storytellingand the tightly bounded Much is made in Her husband Andrew was 29 years old. 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. That Sunday morning, Ashcraft and the other 19 members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew had been deployed to the ranching community of Yarnell to fight yet another wildfire. Back in Prescott, Juliann Ashcraft was watching television with her children Ryder, 6; Shiloh, 4; Tate Andrew, 2; and Choice, 1. He insisted on tucking the children in each night and leading them in their prayers. For more, click here or follow on Facebook. 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Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar and George Santos receive House committee seats, Suspects sought in "massacre" at California home that left 6 dead. large, that are inseparable from the real-life story that it is telling. Roxanne Warneke, riding shotgun, rolled down her window. Her mother doesn't hold back though. Ashcraft's widow, Juliann Ashcraft, who has been the most prominent family member fighting to win full benefits for the families of the seasonal Hotshots, didn't testify at the hearing, but. You should have seen the appreciation in their eyes and also the empathy, she said. Counting calories IS king when it comes to losing weight - NOT fasting, study finds. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/AllenGBreed, Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Whats By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. That doesnt change, no matter what happens. Mac (Taylor Kitsch), a sexually crude and emotionally stunted colleague He was the only one of the 13 Hotshots denied full benefits who worked a 40 hour week through out the year. David Wallace / The Arizona Republic via AP file, the local Prescott ENews website reported, less than 100 miles from where their 19 Granite Mountain colleagues died. The 19 remaining Hotshots were deploying their emergency fire shelters lightweight cocoons made of reflective material intended as a firefighter's last resort. Then he rode away with a firefighter from another Hotshot team. At 4:47 p.m., Eric Marsh did radio to fire commanders, and his message was utterly terrifying. 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. 'He was the most amazing man,' she said. from the community, conceal and reflect other sorts of nostalgiaa The fires have burned 191,000 acres and claimed at least thirty-one lives, and more destruction may be yet to come. she told the Today show early last month as she struggled to hold back the tears. When he is hired as a firefighter, the other members of Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Juliann Ashcraft's husband, Andrew, was one of 19 firefighters killed battling a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona on June 30. This day, so far, had been different. She and Billy used to go to nearby Patagonia often, to hike and fish, taking State Highway 83. As the bodies of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were recovered, it emerged that the team's 20th member survived as he was moving the crew's truck when the flames overcame his comrades. Juliann Ashcraft, an LDS wife and mother, appeared on the "Today" show Tuesday morning to discuss her husband, who's been hailed as a hero, two days after learning of his death. Then Willis ended the conversation the way he does anytime he's speaking to a firefighter. 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. Her stepson, Travis, was a member of the Granite Mountain team. (CBS News) PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- Five weeks ago, 19 men were killed fighting a wildfire near Yarnell, Ariz. Prescott High School physical education teacher and coach Lou Beneitone taught many of the Hotshots, and remembered Ashcraft as a fitness-oriented student. It cost about $320. Mr Ashcraft, like his colleagues, was protecting the people of Yarnell when he died, tragically leaving his young family without a husband, father or income. "Hey, chief," Marsh said. Soon, Lawton's casual mood turned dark when a neighbor reported that town evacuations were underway. Carter Evans speaks with . She doesn't want the smell of smoke to ever make her feel the way her mother did for so long. Juliann Ashcraft, a widow of a Granite Mountain Hotshot, said she left Prescott, Ariz., to spare her children the discomfort of whispers and glares. Then in the next breath he added, "I want to be Batman.". that were being denied them, city officials fueled only hostility, the house Billy had dreamed of, the one he promised Roxanne, was built by firefighters, friends and neighbors, and complete strangers, They focus on safety for wildland firefighters, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Hot shot crews are elite firefighters who often hike for miles into the wilderness with chain saws and backpacks filled with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and fires. Marsh and Willis had worked together for years, and were close friends as well as colleagues. 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. In 2015, she was caught off guard when she got a whiff of the Finger Rock Fire in Tucson from a distance and had a panic attack. 'Now I have four kids and myself, and I don't know what I'm going to do. Blue Ridge had helped battle the blaze that killed Billy and the hotshot crew. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "We're coming down to the fire.". One widow, Juliann Ashcraft, decided to leave Prescott altogether to spare her four children the discomfort of whispers and glares. Ashcraft's plans may soon include a lawsuit against the city. She felt like she wanted to do something to help. Then his cellphone rang. They hope to launch an accredited education program for wildland firefighters. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Roxanne had married Billy in 2008, but they had known each other since high school. Juliann found some comfort in that, and also in learning that her husband and his friends were never left alone. They live in that same house, built by her community, an American flag still flying out front, a play fort in the backyard now. "Quite literally, my bills are being paid by the good people of the world who are giving donations, because the city of Prescott isn't doing anything for us," she said. Experts say streaming giant will drop star when his Rishi Sunak demands Labour's Keir Starmer backs anti-strike laws ahead of looming de-facto general strike in More misery for NHS patients as thousands of nurses stage two-day strike across England: Health chiefs warn Is it time for the Government to give the nurses a better pay deal? Overnight the blaze grew to 200 acres, and by Sunday morning officials were transitioning to a larger command team to oversee firefighting efforts and calling in more personnel. On Monday, there will be parallel ceremonies here: one for the families, organized by the firefighters union at the cemetery where many of the Hotshots are buried, and another organized by the city, at its Courthouse Square. Students step up to make playground inclusive for those with disabilities. In memory of 19 fire fighters, it said. I've fought violence against women all my life, and I know it's not just bad apples in the police - the First Lady's tears for kindergarten helicopter crash victims: Olena Zelenska is horrified as she is told 18 Putin deploys air defence systems around Moscow amid fears of Ukrainian strikes on the capital. during previous hearings where benefits were awarded to three other 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. These men burned alive trying to save a community. ", "I want to be a fire man," he wrote. Most of the fire activity had been restricted to the north end of the blaze. yearning for a less complex and more homogeneous society that, I Her husband Andrew was 29 years old. They died together. YARNELL, Ariz. Juliann Ashcraft had just put the kids down for a nap when her cellphone buzzed. 'But he let us know that he loved us and missed us. Only the Brave about Prescotts point of pride that the Granite When Travis was in kindergarten, he drew a picture of a fire truck and titled it, "When I grow up. In love: Juliann, right, is pictured with Andrew Ashcraft, left, in happier times, Heartbreaking: Not only was Juliann Ashcraft, pictured, devastated to lose her husband, she is now facing raising their four children without the benefits she is entitled to, In a statement to CBS News, Prescott officials said the city had 'fully complied with all of the laws and employment polices that direct survivor benefits.'. Juliann met with families of two Beartown firefighters from Michigan who were killed and another half dozen who were injured in an accident on their way to the Box Canyon wildfire in Utah last summer. In 2015, Roxanne had joined Juliann Ashcraft, whose husband, Andrew, also was killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire, and Andrew's mother, Deborah Pfingston, to form the Wildland Firefighter. Because of the dangers of the job, he would always tell us that he loved us.'. She responded by asking whether he and his crew would be sleeping in the field that night. Because even though Billie Grace never got to meet her father, Roxanne wants her to remember him. Another board member, Wade Ward of the Prescott Fire Department, said the question was difficult because "everything that we've gone through and continue to go through is unprecedented. 'The best person I know. City officials declined multiple requests for an interview, but Monday they sent a statement. "I said to them, 'My husband was a full-time employee, he went to work full-time for you,'" she said, "and their response to me was, 'Perhaps there was a communication issue in your marriage.'". I was able to beat back the anxiety, she said. Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. It had been almost four years since her husband, wildland firefighter Billy Warneke, was killed by a raging blaze in Yarnell. She has anew baby brother, Owen. A couple of miles away, Colleen Turbyfill was scanning Facebook when a news alert popped up about a Hotshot crew. Meanwhile, a young man named Brendan McDonough (Miles This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Because shewants her daughter to respect fire, to be mindful of it, but not to be afraid. Around the corner, Jennifer Parks of Phoenix was trying to explain to her 6-year-old son, Jake, that this was not where the fallen firefighters were buried. When it came time to vote on the benefits extension, his was the only dissenting vote. Ms. Ashcraft said Thursday that not . But answers aren't expected still for months. Click here to share your story. "We've got a great crew," the 27-year-old father of two young girls said. 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