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John Dougherty to Talk Granite Mountain Hotshots on Southern California Public Radio

Reporter John Dougherty will be on Southern California Public Radio this morning to talk about his report on the increasing evidence that the Granite Mountain Hotshots never should have been deployed.The men were deployed to the Yarnell Hill Fire in late June, and 19 of the crew's 20 members were...
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Reporter John Dougherty will be on Southern California Public Radio this morning to talk about his report on the increasing evidence that the Granite Mountain Hotshots never should have been deployed.

The men were deployed to the Yarnell Hill Fire in late June, and 19 of the crew's 20 members were killed in the fire.

See also:
-Hotshots Never Should've Been Deployed, Mounting Evidence Shows

The narrative from officials that some freak storm killed the hotshots just doesn't tell the whole story.

Requests to deploy the Granite Mountain Hotshots to the Yarnell Hill Fire were denied. June 30, the day the men died, was their scheduled day off.

Documents obtained by Dougherty show that the hotshots' leader, Eric Marsh, did not believe his crew met the minimum requirements for a hotshot crew -- as the city council voted to cut two more full-time members from the crew.

Dougherty will be discussing the story on Southern California Public Radio's Take Two program this morning, which runs from 9 to 11 a.m.

The station has a link to listen live, for those of us back in Arizona.

UPDATE August 29: Click here for details on Dougherty's interview, including a link to the audio.

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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.


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