Confused: Juliann Ashcraft, pictured, is fighting with the city of Prescott for the benefits she is being denied, Children: Mrs Ashcraft, pictured, was left to raise her four children alone. But answers aren't expected still for months. Juliann Ashcraft, an LDS wife and mother, appeared on the "Today" show and CBS news Tuesday morning to discuss her husband, who has been hailed as a hero. That legal designation means that, despite Erics profound Roxanne told them about the non-profit group. "Yarnell," her daughter-in-law replied. The fire has also destroyed an estimated 200 homes. 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. 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.". Ms. Ashcraft said Thursday that not . These men lived together. Juliann met with families of two Beartown firefighters from Michigan who were killed and another half dozen who were injured in an accident on their way to the Box Canyon wildfire in Utah last summer. These disputes soon grew more bitter, more complicated, and more Outside of the love he shared for his family members, hotshot firefighting was his life, his wife said. "too bad lunch was an MRE," the text concluded. Nineteen men, members of an elite "Hotshot" team, died Sunday battling the out-of-control wildfire Sunday outside Yarnell, Ariz. Juliann Ashcraft's husband, Andrew, was one of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters who lost their lives when a fire they were battling suddenly changed direction and engulfed them. She responded by asking whether he and his crew would be sleeping in the field that night. Helicopter crash near Ukraine kindergarten kills children and top officials, U.S. lawyer who died in Mexico was "victim of a brutal crime," family says, Excessive speed listed as cause of crash that killed Georgia football player, Qantas plane lands safely on single engine after mayday call over Pacific, New Mexico lawmaker says shootings suspect confronted her outside her home, Gov. Overnight the blaze grew to 200 acres, and by Sunday morning officials were transitioning to a larger command team to oversee firefighting efforts and calling in more personnel. Roxanne picked up Billie Grace and showed it to her. Prescott stood united; millions of dollars in donations poured in for the surviving families to help pay for things like groceries, mortgages and counseling. about party identification or political campaignsat least as crucial Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. Mrs Ashcraft sobbed as she recounted the bravery of her beloved husband and his close unit of highly-trained 'hotshot' colleagues, who were overcome by the ferocious flames in Yarnell. yet is excluded from the movie, and that is at least as interesting Ashcraft did not think it would be this much of an issue. The 4-1 vote came at the same time that an army of Hotshots from around the West was returning to the area to battle a fire near Slide Rock State Park less than 100 miles from where their 19 Granite Mountain colleagues died. The comments below have not been moderated. firefighters courage and self-sacrifice. Photograph by Columbia Pictures via Everett, deemed some of its firefighters to be temporary or seasonal,, Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard. and how narrow narrative designs are methods for keeping uncomfortable 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. 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 . In fact, he was one of 19 wildland firefighters who died in the line of duty that day, with just one member of the crew surviving. The art of storytelling is treacherous, and the new film Only the surviving family members also sued the town for three hundred million He radioed down to his crewmates, telling them his trigger point had been reached, and that he was heading for safe ground. At 7:25 p.m., Colleen grabbed her phone and texted Travis' wife, Stephanie. 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. A cursory search for one of them, Joe Thurston, turned up a Prescott News article from June 7, 2016, headlined Prescott Approves Survivor Benefits for Widow of Wildland but something troubled in their past shadows their daily lives. Still, during the summer wildfire season, it was not unusual for the couple to go weeks on end without any communication. Willis, the Prescott wildland fire chief, was in his pickup outside Yarnell, listening to the Hotshots' tactical frequency, when he heard a garbled message from Marsh that he couldn't quite make out. As a Prescott fire official would later recount, McDonough told his team to contact him on the radio if they needed anything. ", At 7:28, Colleen typed: "Heard there is a crew trapped surrounded by fire. Each man's family prayed that their son-husband-brother had been the lucky one. possibility that there might be anyone besides white people in Prescott). Devastation is not soothed by a monetary award, Patrick J. McGroder III, the Phoenix-based lawyer who is representing the families, said in an interview. 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. out can be far more revealing than what they choose to include. 2 status. Roxanne tried to prepare herself for the smell. Teller), a slacker and a stoner, has gotten a young woman (Natalie Hall) Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. "No, honey," she said gently. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The 19 remaining Hotshots were deploying their emergency fire shelters lightweight cocoons made of reflective material intended as a firefighter's last resort. It was about 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, 2013 when Juliann Ashcraft started getting alarming phone messages from friends. are embodied in the storytelling methods of classic Hollywood movies, It was everything to him. for anyone who has read anything about the real-life Granite Mountain Back in Prescott, Juliann Ashcraft was watching television with her children Ryder, 6; Shiloh, 4; Tate Andrew, 2; and Choice, 1. "They all laid out there that night.". The script, by Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer, puts exceptional Andrew Ashcraft, pictured left, was one of the 19 firefighters who died. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. They remove brush, trees and anything that might burn in the direction of homes and cities. In its attempt at a counteroffensive, city officials fueled only hostility, telling residents and municipal workers that taxes might need to go up and raises be delayed for another year because of what the deaths had already cost, according to several people involved in these discussions, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. He sent a photo of where he was sitting and what the fire looked like for them, at their lunch spot, Ashcraft said on TODAY Tuesday. They used to work with your Daddy Billy.. Roxanne remembered how Billy and the other firefighterstired of MREs and protein bars. "Hey, chief," Marsh said. At 2 p.m., he saw fire close to the elementary school and to a few homes, but Lawton still believed Yarnell to be safe. PRESCOTT, Ariz. Smoke drifted from the fire that tore through the chaparral brush on nearby mountains after the flames had claimed the lives of 19 firefighters almost a year ago, immersing this tight community in heartache. Market data provided by Factset. Now the fire had shut down that route. is the sole survivor. passionate marriage with Amanda (Jennifer Connelly), a horse trainer, Andrew Ashcraft was only in his third season with the Hotshots, but he'd been working toward the job for years. Juliann Ashcraft said her husband took on a new position as "lead saw" this season and that crew chief Eric Marsh, who also died in the fire, had pursued benefits for him. Marsh and Willis had worked together for years, and were close friends as well as colleagues. I wrote here last week about the exclusions, the prejudices, the blinkered points of view that You gotta be very physically fit, and you gotta like it, gotta like the hard work.'. It still did not look as catastrophic as it turned out to be, but it was interesting to have that perspective, to know what life was like for him on the fire lines and know what he risked day in and day out.. They were heroes in our home, they were heroes in our community," she said. Her husband Andrew was 29 years old. 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. Not this time. Her mother doesn't hold back though. displays of the arts peculiarities and pitfalls. That fire had threatened her own parents' home nearby. who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.. She said she learned of her husband's death while watching the news with their four children. Hotshots, heroic fighters of wildfires in Arizona. That afternoon Juliann texted to report that it was raining at their house in nearby Prescott. women who lost their husbands in the disaster. Eric, for his part, is in a She noticed that everybody who used to work with her father wore green pants. Brave, released last Friday, is among the more noteworthy recent When Roxanne introduced herself to the firefighters at the station, she told them that her husband had been one of the 19 hotshots killed in the Yarnell fire. Roxanne Warneke, riding shotgun, rolled down her window. Victim of Serial Rapist Identifies Her Attacker to His Future Neighbors Ahead of His Prison Release. If State Highway 83 had been open, it would have taken an hour and a half or so. Her husband Andrew was 29 years old. 'I asked, "Will you be sleeping out there tonight?"' Roxanne would take her daughter to Billys grave with flowers and his dog. That doesnt change, no matter what happens. 'And of course there was no reply and they all laid out there that night.'. Drivers could only need an MOT every two years under new government plans to save owners money - despite How much will YOUR broadband go up in price? . Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content, 2022 LDS Living A Division of Deseret Book Company. Juliann said she sent her husband a photo of their four children, all under 6, swimming. Yet it also offers a ", "I want to be a fire man," he wrote. Thanks to the photo, Juliann could at least picture where Andrew was. Because even though Billie Grace never got to meet her father, Roxanne wants her to remember him. In the end, the house Billy had dreamed of, the one he promised Roxanne, was built by firefighters, friends and neighbors, and complete strangers who donated money, time, labor and supplies. A couple of firefighters approached the truck, curious how a civilian vehicle had gotten past the roadblocks. We love them.'. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. So Roxanne still follows the progress of fires online, like she used to when Billy was on the job. While his love affair with firefighting predated his romance with Juliann, there was no question which passion burned hotter. As depicted in the movie, nineteen of the twenty members of In love: Juliann, right, is pictured with Andrew Ashcraft, left, in happier times, Heartbreaking: Not only was Juliann Ashcraft, pictured, devastated to lose her husband, she is now facing raising their four children without the benefits she is entitled to, In a statement to CBS News, Prescott officials said the city had 'fully complied with all of the laws and employment polices that direct survivor benefits.'. unit. She doesn't want the smell of smoke to ever make her feel the way her mother did for so long. were killed fighting a wildfire near Yarnell, Ariz. In 2015, Roxanne had joined Juliann Ashcraft, whose husband, Andrew, also was killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire, and Andrew's mother, Deborah Pfingston, to form the Wildland Firefighter. For a short time, no one knew who the lone survivor was. Ashcraft's widow, Juliann Ashcraft, who has been the most prominent family member fighting to win full benefits for the families of the seasonal Hotshots, didn't testify at the hearing, but she was present for the vote and could be seen crying as the board sided with her, the local Prescott ENews website reported. California faces dangerous mudslides after monster storms. Yet as I The movie also gives both men a foil. She is Roxanne Preston now, having married a man named Harry Preston last summer. Roxanne had married Billy in 2008, but they had known each other since high school. Only the Brave is filled with conspicuous touches of heartiness, of Juliann Ashcraft, widow of Andrew Ashcraft, who was one of the 19 firefighters who died while battling the Arizona wildfire on Sunday, spoke to "Today" about the final text messages she exchanged with her husband. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. With their deaths, the department lost 20 per cent of its members. Juliann Ashcraft decided to leave Prescott altogether to spare her four children the discomfort of whispers and glares. Whats the point of living a life if you arent happy?. When last he looked, McDonough's lookout position had already burned over in the flames. Holding back tears, Juliann Ashcraft described text messages and photos she and her husband exchanged just before he died. 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.". Hot shot crews are elite firefighters who often hike for miles into the wilderness with chain saws and backpacks filled with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and fires. "Quite literally, my bills are being paid by the good people of the world who are giving donations, because the city of Prescott isn't doing anything for us," she said. 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. a supervisor asked him. Strangely, he did not draw the typical red hook-and-ladder truck, but rather a pale green vehicle that closely resembles the type the Granite Mountain crew used. . meaning of their own andas in Only the Bravewhat filmmakers leave She has no interest in him or in his help raising the child; She calls Harry Daddy Hop, a nickname from his initials. Restore radiance: This 8.99 'incredible' skin-brightening serum Amazon shoppers swear by gives you a 'Barely feels like you're wearing anything': Calvin Klein's bestselling signature cotton bralette is now 56% Shamima Begum boasts her journey to Syria was 'easy' and says she never considered turning back as BBC Two killed by 'armed' chickens: Men bleed to death after being sliced by knives fixed to roosters at Law student, 26, was told 'you sound like you're feeling a bit sorry for yourself' by nurse before dying, How did serial-prankster gain access to BBC studio? PRESCOTT, Ariz. Before dawn, Juliann Ashcraft kissed her husband goodbye as he left . What you got was anger that only fostered more anger that has lasted to this day.. This day, so far, had been different. I dreamed of Daddy Billy.. Harry will ask, How did you sleep?, I slept good, she told him. But she's been denied the lifetime benefits she was counting on to raise her four children, the youngest of whom is 18 months old. Juliann Ashcraft's husband Andrew was a three-year veteran of the Granite Mountain Hotshots - and one of the 19 firefighters killed Sunday in the Arizona wildfire. But the city of Prescott, where the Hotshots were based, is now claiming he was a seasonal worker, despite him working a 40 hour week year round, and denying Mrs Ashcraft full benefits. Still, at first, officials determined this blaze to be small, posing no immediate threat to Yarnell's 700 residents. His sister contends he belongs to her alone. I saw that it kept growing, Roxanne said. the house Billy had dreamed of, the one he promised Roxanne, was built by firefighters, friends and neighbors, and complete strangers, They focus on safety for wildland firefighters, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. "And I knew I had to get out.". 'I said to them, "My husband was a full-time employee, he went to work full-time for you,"' she said, 'and their response to me was, "Perhaps there was a communication issue in your marriage."'. It had been almost four years since her husband, wildland firefighter Billy Warneke, was killed by a raging blaze in Yarnell. While her husband was on a break during the early stages of battling a massive fire on Sunday, Ashcraft said she texted pictures of their kids swimming. Now she wondered if that were true. Roxanne had married Billy in 2008, but they had known each other since high school. When they were found on Sunday, all 19 shelters were deployed but some of the men's bodies were inside their individual shelters, while others were outside - indicating just how suddenly they were overcome by the flames. They took Billie Grace with them. home town. The 29-year-old former "rookie of the year" on the elite "Hotshot" team, was a father of four, all of whom are younger than 6 years old. These men burned alive trying to save a community. employment status of the men under his command than it does for the stirring, effective, patriotic propaganda for a picture of America that To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. "It was brown, then it was black, it then turned red and the flames topped the hill," Lawton would later recall. Because shewants her daughter to respect fire, to be mindful of it, but not to be afraid. stretched out over more than 40,000 acres. "This is where people come to pay their respects.". In 1990, she married Travis' father and adopted the precocious little boy who, even then, knew what he wanted to be one day. Read more here. "I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting my children, be figuring out what our new normal is," she said. They focus on safety for wildland firefighters, lobbying for policy changes and independent investigations. 'Now I have four kids and myself, and I don't know what I'm going to do. truths offscreen in the interest of a so-called mainstream. Less then two days after Andrew Ashcraft's life was taken, Juliann Ashcraft spoke about her husband and the other members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew. Andrew had not made it. Brendan is first seen as a young Her husband, Andrew, 29, was a former "rookie of the year" on the team and the father of four children, all younger than the age of 6. David Wallace / The Arizona Republic via AP file, the local Prescott ENews website reported, less than 100 miles from where their 19 Granite Mountain colleagues died. Teddy bears, homemade banners, flower arrangements and fire department T-shirts from all over the country bake in the brutal summer sun. The "We could really use some rain over here," he replied. She and Billy used to go to nearby Patagonia often, to hike and fish, taking State Highway 83. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Money Splits a City Still Mourning Its Firefighters, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/us/money-splits-a-city-still-mourning-its-firefighters.html. Yet here she was. 'Quite literally, my bills are being paid by the good people of the world who are giving donations, because the city of Prescott isn't doing anything for us,' she told the TV station. Though next-door to national forestland that regularly sees fire activity, this particular area had not burned in some 40 years and was deep into a drought making it far more susceptible to fire. "I want to be a fireman," Zak said. nonfiction account in GQ by Sean Flynn (and co-produced by Cond Nast Then his cellphone rang. already cost, according to several people involved in these discussions, Carter Evans speaks with Ashcraft's widow, who was receiving text messages from him right to the end. She would whisper stories to Billie Grace about her daddy long before she could possibly understand. Gov. Because of the dangers of the job, he would always tell us that he loved us.'. "I said to them, 'My husband was a full-time employee, he went to work full-time for you,'" she said, "and their response to me was, 'Perhaps there was a communication issue in your marriage.'". Juliann Ashcraft decided to leave Prescott altogether to spare her four children the discomfort of whispers and glares. The highly-skilled team was overtaken by a fast-moving blaze stoked by hot winds on Sunday. Now Roxanne was headed to the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District station, near the first fire she had confronted since then. Along the way, moods changed and perceptions shifted as the families laid bare their demands for answers about the deaths of a crew skilled on fighting fires in the wild and for fairness over the benefits for the wives and children left behind. All 19 Hotshot families will receive worker's compensation and a one-off federal payment of $328,000. Juliann Ashcraft, the widow of fallen firefighter Andrew Ashcraft, one of 19 men who sacrificed his life battling a wildfire Sunday outside of Yarnell, Ariz., discussed the final text messages and photos she shared with her husband hours before he died. the outfit see him as physically and mentally unfit (they give him the who is also Donuts most vicious harasser. Andrew Ashcraft, 29, seen here with his wife, Juliann Ashcraft, was one of 19 elite "hotshot" firefighters killed in an Arizona wildfire this week. is itself merely a one-sidedly useful artifice. couples stifled conflicts burst forth with some trenchant writing 'But he let us know that he loved us and missed us. discipline and the book studies and becomes an integral part of the Heartbroken: Juliann Ashcraft, cries alongside her father Tom Ashcraft outside of the Granite Mountain Hotshot fire station in Prescott on Monday July 1, Struggle: Juliann Ashcraft, left, will only get a one-off payment of $328,000 and workers' compensation. The Hotshots, he said, were his heroes. They reach out to firefighters and families who need support. or redistributed. understanding of the best way to fight wildfires, his crew must follow It was approaching 5 p.m., and the winds were now coming from the north at 26 mph, with gusts to 43 mph. Juliann Ashcraft, the spouse of the late firefighter Andrew Ashcraft, I asked my daughter's teachers not to call her a boy they reported me to social services. A widow whose husband was killed courageously fighting a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona five weeks ago is being denied the lifetime benefits she was counting on to raise the couple's four young children alone. There was silence for a moment. The shocking treatment comes five weeks afterthe mother-of-four learned by watching the news that her firefighter husband had perished in the intense blaze that burned scores of homes to the ground. Hotshot) units and merely There was a critical time period when I feel that if the city officials had shown a little bit of heart, a certain amount of caring, they could have resolved the differences, but they turned their backs on families, Dan Fraijo, Prescotts fire chief at the time of the Hotshots deaths, said in an interview. Jax the Staffy is rescued after being stuck in a cave for two days, Man knocked out by a pool cue in violent pub brawl, Motorists slowly drive down snowy hill in treacherous conditions. and raises be delayed for another year because of what the deaths had Harry is an ex-Marine with friends who are firefighters, so he, too, was tracking the fire. 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. I wanted to take her so she could have a positive outlook on fire instead of a negative one, Roxanne said. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. CBS News obtained paperwork that shows Ashcraft did earn a full-time salary. August 5, 2013 / 7:54 PM Brave is spare, clear, direct storytellingand the tightly bounded watched the movie, I felt that something was missing (including the They pay to replace or update equipment. casually, just a few minutes click-around) at news about the Hotshots "I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting. Jeremy Hunt is mocked over toe-curling 'inflation explainer' video with Aldi and Lidl shoppers face highest inflation hikes: Cost of basic groceries rise by more than 20% at the Is inflation FINALLY on the way down? He insisted on tucking the children in each night and leading them in their prayers. He called his wife first, and then the head of the Prescott Fire Department. that were being denied them, city officials fueled only hostility, As time wore on, Willis got back on the phone. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. As a result of the dispute, there were two separate memorial services held for the fallen firefightersone organized by their union, one run by the city of Prescott. members of the company, the sixteen whose characters arent developed in A contagious smile, a heart of gold. Then in the next breath he added, "I want to be Batman.". Legal Statement. "I love what I do, and we're going to be OK.". Worried sick. He sent back a picture of the fire, which he described as wild, that would ultimately claim his life. As it stands, the city had entered only six of the Hotshots 19 fallen members into this system, or those who were considered full-time employees. "The city has fully complied with all of the laws and employment policies that direct survivor benefits," the statement said. His guys. But the smoke was so thick crews could only guess at where to drop their loads. It turns out that, just a few weeks after the tragedy, one widow, Chilling moment Plymouth gunman Jake Davison strolled along the road wielding shotgun as he murdered five People who drink alcohol more than once a WEEK are at higher risk of internet, gaming and exercise 'The tears, the time together lost': Kirstie Allsopp admits 'one of her greatest regrets' is forcing her Well, that fell a bit flat (white)! "They never think it will happen to them..