More details on last minutes of Granite Mountain 19

Granite Mountain Hotshots

Granite Mountain HotshotsArizonaCentral.com has obtained copies of reports written by an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter crew which provide information about the last radio transmissions from the Granite Mountain Hotshots before the Hotshots were entrapped and killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire June 30 in Arizona.

According to the report, at 4:30 p.m. the crew was in a previously burned area, in the black, moving to Yarnell.

Below is an excerpt from the article about what happened next:

“…A short time later [someone on the crew] came back up on the radio advising they were heading to a ranch they had in sight,” the report reads. “It was shortly after that (a crew member) came back up on the radio sounding excited, out of breath.” The records indicate the hotshot repeatedly tried to contact Air Attack, circling the fire, with no response.

Commanders coordinating the aerial attack on the fire offered a direct reply shortly after, according to other members of the DPS crew.

“Whoever is yelling on the radio needs to stop,” the reports state.

Immediately afterward, a commander came on the radio and asked the hotshot crew to continue the transmission, according to the report.

“(A crew member) advised their escape route had been cut off and they were deploying their shelters,” the report states. “I heard numerous attempts by Air Attack trying to contact (the crew member) after this with no response.”

Moments later, a fire chief who was coordinating air operations drove up to the DPS helicopter where medics and crew members were waiting. They informed the operations chief what had just taken place.

“(The operations chief) advised me that he was on a separate channel and did not hear the traffic,” according to the report.

No more radio transmissions were heard from the Hotshot crew.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

10 thoughts on “More details on last minutes of Granite Mountain 19”

  1. Yet more misleading information for misinterpretation? The article says yellow backpacks were found on the ridge. I don’t think Granite Mountain used yellow backpacks. Was this stuff dropped off earlier by a chopper and not part of Granite Mountain’s gear? In other words, the Hotshots didn’t lighten their gear load during a probable rapid exit.

    LR

    LR

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    1. Thought the same thing. Suspect those packs had nothing to do with Granite Mountain. Their packs were black.

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      1. If you listen to the interview with Division Chief Darrell Willis,
        he explains that from the air the DPS “rescue” helicopter spotted yellow bladder bags on the ridge in the black.
        From there the helicopter referenced the crew and found the deployment site. Part 1 of video interview @ 09:40.

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  2. From the numbers on the photos on the Willis briefing, the ranch is 1900 fett from the deployment site or just over 1/3 of a mile.

    How long would it take to cover that amount of ground through 10 ft high chapparal that hadnt burned in 40 years with no trail, in the smoke?

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  3. In the heat of the moment, amid the chaos, instructions like that do get broadcast. The quality of the communications on the Yarnell Hill Fire will likely be a factor in this tragedy.

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  4. I’m concerned about the response of the Air Attack to the Hot Shot’s yelling on the radio. I have been a 911 dispatcher in Seattle and an observation plane pilot in Vietnam and have dealt with panicked people on the phones and radio. This was a totally inappropriate response by Air Attack. A calming, caring and reassuring response could have gone a long way in helping the Hot Shots in their dire situation.

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  5. As I understood him, Chief Willis suggested that the crew made a tactical decision to stop line-building because of the fire behavior and switch to protecting structures at that ranch, which was also a safe zone.

    They had reported being safely in the black. I had speculated before that perhaps unbearable smoke and/or heat forced them to move.

    But the ranch was more than a quarter-mile away? Yet there was a two-track road that they could follow at least some of the distance? If the ranch was a predesignated safety zone, wouldn’t it have been too far away, given terrain and fuels, etc.?

    This is still so hard to understand on many levels.

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    1. Caution! Every report, even Chief Willis’ briefing/interview, has discrepancies.

      I have spent many hours trying to glean facts about this incident from as many sources as I can find and one glaring reality is this…. nobody has it 100% right. Far from it. So take anything and everything you read or view with a grain of salt because it is just not quite right.

      Two absolute truths so far in what they reveal as long as the times are correct are the two known photos that were texted. And one more, the deployment/burnover site.

      The official investigation and report will winnow out the factual truth. It will paint a vivid picture of this tragedy for those of us that need to understand why and how Granite Mountain died.

      Lone Ranger

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      1. I’ve been doing the same ‘Lone Ranger’. You’re right on the mark. There is a lot of information to piece together before anyone will have a reasonable understanding of what happened that Sunday afternoon.

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      2. Agreed Lone Ranger! I’d like to note that Willis in some of his interviews has said “I think they [the crew]…” or something to that effect in his comments. He was not with the crew or near the location when the burnover happened. And his statements in the interviews he gave to the media are not technically “official.” He is giving his account of what he believes happened. It’s a natural thing to do, especially from someone who knew the crew well, but still speculation nonetheless.

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