When that failed, Willis said, he contacted Paladini and then-state Forester Scott Hunt.Willis and Paladini later met with lawyers from the state Attorney General's Office, Forestry and ADOSH, urging them to get a sworn statement from McDonough. As flames raced in, McDonough executed a preplanned escape from his lookout post and joined several members of the Blue Ridge Hotshots.Paladini offered the following account of McDonough's story, as he says was related to him by Willis, who disagrees:At some point, as a wall of flame moved in, Marsh joined the hotshots and became trapped with them several hundred yards from the ranch house. Selden argued that McDonough's recollections may be critical to understanding why Granite Mountain Hotshots abandoned a safe zone. Frisby and his assistant eventually made their way to the entrapment site and were some of the first individuals to find the deployment site and the remains of the Granite Mountain crew.On July 2, more than 3,000 people attended a public memorial service at an indoor stadium in Prescott Valley.A nine-member investigative team of forest managers and safety experts arrived in Arizona on July 2. But he disputed key details in Paladini's account.If the events described by Paladini occurred, they help answer a lingering question about the tragedy.They also could dramatically influence a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by some of the hotshots' surviving family members, and workplace-safety litigation against the Arizona State Forestry Division for allegedly negligent supervision of wildfire-suppression efforts. "We all care about McDonough as a person and sympathize with him. By John Dougherty. "Selden warned that delaying the deposition might harm surviving family members because versions of McDonough's revelation would leak and be distorted. The tragedy of the Yarnell Hill fire was a series of fatal choices that will haunt firefighting forever. "It's just 'he said, she said.' We've got to get them out of here.”The Helms never saw the Granite Mountain Hotshots on the day they died and never knew the crew was working nearby. He should have the freedom to tell the truth. "I believe Brendan wants to tell the truth, whatever the truth is. "Willis said McDonough's account was vague and inconsistent. A firefighter walked up to Diane Helm, who was in her yard surveying damage after the fire. The Blue Ridge firefighters were interviewed for a Serious Accident Investigation, conducted on behalf of the Forestry Division, but their statements were not recorded and only summaries were released to the public.Asked by phone this week to comment on McDonough's purported revelations, Blue Ridge Superintendent Brian Frisby said, "We're going to decline. In late June, 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots died while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona. Marsh had descended from a ridge to the safety of a ranch compound in Glen Ilah. Nearly 150 Yarnell community members gathered at the future site of The Yarnell Hill Fire Memorial Park in Yarnell on June 30, 2019, to commemorate the 19 deaths … The bottom line is, they are never coming home. "One would think that ADOSH would leap at the chance to obtain this information as soon as possible, not try to delay and suppress it until later. "A new account could help solve one of the largest lingering mysteries about the Yarnell Hill Fire disaster, which killed 19 firefighters in 2013.Robert Anglen, Dennis Wagner, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez "There was so much happening. One of those people was his supervisor (Willis)," she said. The Helms were among the first to find out that a crew of 19 firefighters had died nearby. \"We need to get back in here. Downhill from him are ten firefighters, all members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. The Granite Mountain crew's decision to leave a safe area as winds whipped the blaze into a firestorm confounded wildfire experts and has remained a mystery despite two investigations.Previously disclosed videos and testimony indicated that Eric Marsh — the crew's supervisor who was separated from the others to scout the fire — and Jesse Steed — Marsh's top deputy who was in charge of the crew — had a radio discussion on the afternoon of June 30, 2013, shortly before the hotshots were overcome by flames.A thunderhead swirled over Yarnell and the firestorm reversed direction. He said he did not want to violate a confidence, and gave McDonough a weekend to publicly reveal the information. We've got 19 dead firefighters up on the hill. In a subsequent letter to Administrative Law Judge Michael Mosesso, Selden requested a subpoena ordering McDonough's testimony on Feb. 26.Mosesso refused to issue a subpoena, records show, and McDonough was not deposed in February.Officials at ADOSH, the Division of Forestry and the Attorney General's Office declined comment.Paladini divulged his knowledge of the controversy after being contacted by Paladini stood by his account when told that Willis challenged it.Prescott City Councilwoman Jean Wilcox, a lawyer, said the council was notified by the city attorney last year of purported key revelations about the crew's movements. "The radio communications of the crew during that fateful, tragic decision are potentially of enormous significance in this case," Selden wrote.
"Marsh said McDonough has never talked to her about what he might have heard on the radio. The Yarnell Hill Fire burned 8,000 acres, destroyed 114 structures and forced hundreds of residents to flee for their lives. Yarnell fire: New account of hotshot deaths. An Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health investigation led the state Industrial Commission to issue $559,000 in fines, which are under appeal.The Yarnell Hill Fire burned 8,000 acres, destroyed 114 structures and forced hundreds of residents to flee for their lives.