Events planned for 10th anniversary of Hotshots tragedy

PHOENIX — The 10th anniversary of the day 19 members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshots lost their lives fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in Yavapai County is coming this summer.

To honor the men who died June 30, 2013, the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Team has planned two events for June 30 of this year.

The first event will be a private memorial for Granite Mountain family members that morning at the Arizona Pioneers’ Home Cemetery in Prescott.

The second event will be a public memorial at the Yavapai County Courthouse Square in the afternoon.

The team hopes to conclude the latter event near the time that the courthouse bells begin to ring at 4:32 p.m. Every June 30 at that time, 19 bells chime in memory of the fallen Hotshots.

“We will never stop honoring these men, their lives and the sacrifices they made, not just on June 30, but every day,” Tony Sciacca, the team’s incident commander, said in a press release.

“This was a tragedy for our entire wildland firefighting family and many of us are still trying to process that day. We continue to grieve and try to heal. We can never do enough to show our gratitude to them, but we hope that through these ceremonies we can ensure their memories live on and always remember them in a way they deserve.”

As event planning continues, more information will be released over the next few months.

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