Memorial Service Held for Granite Mountain Hotshots

A memorial service for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire is under way in Prescott Valley.Vice President Joe Biden, Governor Jan Brewer, and thousands of members of the public showed up to remember the 19 men...

By Matthew Hendley

July 9, 2013

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A memorial service for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire is under way in Prescott Valley.

Vice President Joe Biden, Governor Jan Brewer, and thousands of members of the public showed up to remember the 19 men.

See also:
-Granite Mountain Hotshots Killed in Yarnell Hill Fire Taken Back to Prescott
-Granite Mountain Hotshots Not Caught in "Sudden" Storm, as Media Accounts Contend

According to a program for the memorial service, Brendan McDonough, the lone survivor of the firefighting crew, is going to read a prayer at the service.

The program for the memorial also includes biographies of each of the 19 men killed in the blaze, so click over to the next page of this post to read those, if you haven't already.

There's an ongoing investigation into the events that led up to the firefighters' deaths.

A preliminary report included little more than, "Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were entrapped when flames overran their position on June 30. Eyewitnesses state that fire behavior was extreme with heavy winds. The crew of 19 deployed fire shelters late Sunday afternoon but did not survive."

Read the memorial program on the next page.

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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.

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