He was on a fire in Yarnell, a small town about 30 miles to the south, but there hadn't been a cause for concern. There was silence for a moment. It turns out, however, their families may not receive the same compensation. "I think I will be down there for a while on this one," 29-year-old Ashcraft had told his wife via text. The fire that swept over the Granite Mountain Hotshots left Juliann Ashcraft a widow. attempting to get that honor on the cheap. As depicted in the movie, nineteen of the twenty members of Now she wondered if that were true. Money has nonetheless become a sharp wedge, driving divisions between the City of Prescott and its fire department, among residents, and between some of those residents and the families that persist even as the first anniversary of the tragedy, this coming Monday, draws near. Autopsies of the 19 firefighters have been conducted, and an investigation into what happened here begun. Of course, there was no reply," she said. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? She wants Billie Grace to meet people who did the work her father did. They live in that same house, built by her community, an American flag still flying out front, a play fort in the backyard now. A few feet away, someone had placed a sign that read, "Real Heroes Don't Wear Capes." He often asks Roxanne, What do you think Billy would want?. She is Roxanne Preston now, having married a man named Harry Preston last summer. Around 6 a.m., Darrell Willis, chief of the Prescott Fire Department's Wildland Fire Division, was loading his truck with containers of eggs, sausage, potatoes and fruit for the crews when his phone rang. is itself merely a one-sidedly useful artifice. The movie is a 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. Jake's 4-year-old brother, Zak, stopped at a circle of tiny toy firetrucks and pointed to one that looked like one of his own back home. Juliann Ashcraft insists that her husband was a full-time employee; she has hired a lawyer and is pondering a lawsuit over the issue, KPHO reports. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Around 10 a.m. Saturday, the Arizona State Forestry Division called in a pair of air tankers, a helicopter, some fire engines and a couple of hand crews. Her mother doesn't hold back though. Ashcraft's plans may soon include a lawsuit against the city. 2023 Cond Nast. no more room for discussions between Eric and Amanda about the Juliann Ashcraft, widow of Andrew Ashcraft, one of the 19 fallen firefighters from the Yarnell Hill Fire, was one of the most outspoken proponents arguing that the 13 seasonal members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew deserved full-time benefits. Still, at first, officials determined this blaze to be small, posing no immediate threat to Yarnell's 700 residents. "I will fire fight the fires.". 'They died heroes,' she told azcentral.com as she wept. Entertainment), of the real-life activities of the Granite Mountain Then Willis ended the conversation the way he does anytime he's speaking to a firefighter. 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. 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. Roxanne Warneke, riding shotgun, rolled down her window. The boys have visited stations and gotten to climb on the engines. 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. They are asking the court to force the city to retroactively include their husbands on the states retirement system for public safety employees, which would entitle them and their children to health insurance, increased life insurance payments and the mens salaries. A crew of 600 firefighters and related personnel had been assigned to it. Because even though Billie Grace never got to meet her father, Roxanne wants her to remember him. For the first time, the danger seemed too close. discipline and the book studies and becomes an integral part of the Once known as "Rich Hill" for the acres of gold nuggets discovered by prospectors in the 1860s, the town lies 80 miles northwest of Phoenix at 4,800 feet above sea level, leading to the motto, "Where a Desert Breeze Meets the Mountain Air.". "I vote yes.". 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. We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet.'. He had been saying all season that this would be his last as a Hotshot. Brave, released last Friday, is among the more noteworthy recent 'He had some athletic ability in him and he was a go-getter, too. Vote here and tell us why, Do not sell or share my personal information. Sean Kauffman, a former Granite Mountain Hotshot, paying his respects. Hotshots. I asked my daughter's teachers not to call her a boy they reported me to social services. LDS widow talks about Ariz. firefighter husband on the 'Today' show, CBS news - Deseret News 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. passionate marriage with Amanda (Jennifer Connelly), a horse trainer, But the smoke was so thick crews could only guess at where to drop their loads. Only the It was 20 percent contained and awind had kicked up. Roxanne tried to prepare herself for the smell. Market data provided by Factset. He had his priorities in line, but when he was there, he would tell me, They say jump and Id say, how high. Their main goal was to save lives. As they unloaded the truck, Roxanne could smell the fire. 'We're devastated. Juliann Ashcraft decided to leave Prescott altogether to spare her four children the discomfort of whispers and glares. 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. Willis gave Marsh the rundown: Active fire. Family photographs reveal a picture perfect family as Juliann and Andrew are seen grinning and kissing, as well as laughing along with their four young children. Andrew Ashcraft, 29, of Prescott, Ariz., was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of 19 firefighters who died battling a fire that swept through Yarnell, Ariz., on Sunday. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Reach Bland at karina.bland@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8614. members of the company, the sixteen whose characters arent developed in In memory of 19 fire fighters, it said. 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. a supervisor asked him. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. It was a text from Andrew, her husband of seven years and, still, her best friend. Across from the Granite Mountain crew's headquarters in downtown Prescott, a chain-link fence has become a makeshift shrine. The art of storytelling is treacherous, and the new film Only the women who lost their husbands in the disaster. She responded by asking whether he and his crew would be sleeping in the field that night. 'He was the most amazing man,' she said. Harry will ask, How did you sleep?, I slept good, she told him. When Andrew was home, he was the center of the family. But answers aren't expected still for months. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. and raises be delayed for another year because of what the deaths had Juliann Ashcraft told Evans about her loss, saying of her husband: "You know there are moments when I think of him and I smile because I love him so much and then I feel guilty for smiling,. 'The best person I know. She added that she had been sending him pictures of their children swimming that day, and how his daughter had commented that she wished he was there to see the thunder storm with them. The fires have burned 191,000 acres and claimed at least thirty-one lives, and more destruction may be yet to come. At 43, the North Carolina native was the oldest member of the Hotshot team and its founder. The fire had stretched out over more than 40,000 acres. At the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District station, Roxanne got out of the truck and introduced herself to the firefighters. 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.". Ariz. firefighters wife: They were heroes, battling the out-of-control wildfire Sunday. Firefighters battling a blaze in Yarnell, Ariz., last year. She felt like she wanted to do something to help. Officials have called the fire the worst wildland tragedy in 80 years. In 1990, she married Travis' father and adopted the precocious little boy who, even then, knew what he wanted to be one day. Juliann found some comfort in that, and also in learning that her husband and his friends were never left alone. He sent back a picture of the fire, which he described as wild, that would ultimately claim his life. Holding back tears, Juliann Ashcraft described text messages and photos she and her husband exchanged just before he died.Nineteen men, members of an elite "Hotshot" team, died Sunday battling the out-of-control wildfire Sunday outside Yarnell, Ariz. When some of the widows sought the benefits Market data provided by Factset. is the sole survivor. home town. And she wasglad she brought Billie Grace. 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. She breathedin and waited for the panic. 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. As a municipal company, the Juliann Ashcraft's husband, Andrew, was hired as a member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew as a temporary worker in 2011 and was named rookie of the year. It was Eric Marsh, superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, who were based out of Willis' department. He was the only one of the 13 Hotshots denied full benefits who worked a 40 hour week through out the year. Victim of Serial Rapist Identifies Her Attacker to His Future Neighbors Ahead of His Prison Release. In part, for that very reason, each crew always has at least one member serving as a lookout, stationed where he can watch the fire's behavior and radio changes in conditions to the team. "Hey, chief," Marsh said. IE 11 is not supported. . Juliann Ashcraft, the spouse of the late firefighter Andrew Ashcraft, While her husband was on a break during the early stages. 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