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Only The Brave: Tribute to 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots
I watched the movie #OnlyTheBrave last Sunday. It was a tribute to the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots (elite firefighters) who died on June 30, 2013.
I remembered reading about the tragedy when it happened. It was all over the world news at the time because of the large number of casualties.
One of the most terrifying things is to be burnt to death. Firefighters are really brave people. In my opinion, they’re heroes!
The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, a small town of 650 people in Arizona. It started when lightning struck the ridgetops on Friday June 28, 2013. The strong winds quickly made the fire go out of control. 19 out of the 20 City of Prescott firefighters, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, were trapped. In desperation, their chief/superintendent Eric Marsh, ordered them to deploy their fire shelters but the flames were too fierce for anyone to survive. It melted even steel.
There was only one survivor. 21 year old Brendan “Donut” McDonough who was on lookout duty on that fateful day.