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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey helps dedicate the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park near Yarnell on Nov. 29, 2016. The memorial honors the 19 hotshots killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013. Tom Tingle/azcentral.com
Amanda Marsh, the widow of firefighter Eric Marsh, listens Tuesday during the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell. (Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic)
YARNELL, Ariz. — She had already seen the 19 crosses at the bottom of the hill, but Glenna Eckel wanted to walk her son’s final steps.
The governor had unveiled Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park, and the sign in town declared only a moderate risk of fire, so Eckel started the hike to her son.
“We're all doing what our guys loved to do,” she said.
It had been more than three years since a wildfire swept down the ridge and swallowed 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Her son, Travis Carter, carried a chain saw that day in 2013, and now a memorial plaque in his honor was fifth in a series of 19, each attached to stones along the trail.
“May this always be a sacred place,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said at the dedication ceremony, surrounded by a Phoenix Fire Department honor guard and hundreds of hotshot family members. They rode in on buses, carrying pictures and flags and hugging like old friends. Tuesday's dedication was mostly for these family members; the park will open to the public Wednesday.
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The families had walked to the bottom of the hill early that morning, cutting through a neighboring ranch for what the state promised the landowner would be the final time. They saw what rangers had named the Fatality Site: 19 stone-filled wire boxes encircling 19 crosses, each marked with a name, each marking the spot where a firefighter died June 30, 2013, in the fight against the Yarnell Hill Fire.
Now, at the trailhead, they sat in silence through the speeches, listened as the governor, the former fire chief and state legislators praised the crew members.
“I’m hopeful that the dedication of this memorial park will begin to help with the healing process,” Ducey said. But was three years long enough?
Support had poured in. The Prescott Fire Department filled 20 binders with letters from across the country. For three years they had made T-shirts and written songs and carried photos in their wallets. But pictures faded and words could be forgotten. A mountain was permanent. Visitors would have to hike the same hillside, feel the same wind, see the place where the firefighters frantically cleared brush and deployed their emergency shelters as flames advanced.
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A member of the honor guard read the 19 names of the men killed when the wildfire overran their position. Each name was punctuated with the ringing of a bell. Ducey unveiled the park’s sign and four planes streaked across the sky. The trail Eckel had promised to finish — 3.5 miles in, 3.5 miles out — was open.
The first memorial, for Eric Marsh, the Hotshots' superintendent, appeared a quarter-mile up the trail. Eckel walked faster. The sand crumbled under her feet and she tripped on stray rocks, holding onto her brother for balance.
“Gives you a taste of what it’s like, right?” she said to a woman coming down the trail. “Only we don’t have 80 pounds on our back, and a chain saw, and been out here for 14 days.”
Travis Carter had tried to stay inside, enrolling at the University of Arizona and earning a walk-on spot with the football team, but he craved the physicality of firefighting. He trained as a Prescott Hotshot and soon moved to Granite Mountain with his best friend Jesse Steed, the unit's captain, who was now remembered on the second memorial.
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“Oh, there’s Jesse,” Eckel said, touching a hand to his plaque. Soon came the third memorial, and the fourth. “He’s got the same birthday as Trav,” Eckel whispered as she leaned in.
The trail curved, opening a wide patch of sky. Eckel walked slowly and peered around the bend. The fifth plaque — Travis’ plaque — waited.
Eckel climbed a stone to see her son’s picture. She felt the engraved words with shaking fingertips.
Travis Carter was born on August 7, 1981, in Prescott, Arizona, to Tripp Carter and Glenna Eckel.
Eckel looked across the trail and tried to piece together what he had seen. She had read the reports and watched the videos, but only now was it clear.
“You’re breathing hard, your heart’s pounding, you’re thirsty, you’re hot, but that’s what these guys felt,” she said.
She believed death brought life, and could feel it now. A helicopter flew overhead, then everything was quiet.
“This is a good spot,” Eckel’s brother said.
“He’ll have a good view of the sunsets,” Eckel replied. She posed for a photo with her son and hiked on to see the others.
The dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park was held Tuesday at the trailhead south of Yarnell. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. (Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic)
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