Memorial

If you haven't heard about the 19 brave souls who perished at the Yarnell Hill fire last week, you must be under a rock and please take this post as your information. 

If you read yesterday's post, you would know that I was in San Antonio the whole of last week at the LCMS National Youth Gathering volunteering to make the week amazing for the 25,000+ kids who attended. 

I was sitting in a private worship service for all the Gathering workers on June 30th, when Cassie texted me about 19 firefighters who had died. My stomach immediately dropped. I quickly received a call from my mom making sure that I wasn't worried about my family. 

These deaths hit close to home for a few reasons. The first being my father and brother both fight wildland fires during the summer months. My dad has been doing just about every job imaginable from digging line, to leading inmate crews, to being a crew boss for the military and now serving on a Type 1 Incident Management Team, who gets the call to manage the largest and most serious fires that start. He has nearly 30 years of experience with fire and just about anyone who is anyone in the Southwest fire community knows his name. 

My brother has found his calling as a part of an engine crew off of the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona. He is in his fifth season and makes me jealous just about every year he goes out and sends me pictures of being on the fire line. 

They both make me proud to have the last name Boness because I know the sacrifice that goes into 16 hour shifts of hard labor day in and day out to protect lives, structures and resources. They would never say it and I probably wouldn't either if I was in their position, but they truly are unspoken heroes to numerous communities who rely on their expertise to save property from overwhelming forest fires.

The second reason the deaths hit me so hard is because this happened in Arizona, to Arizona Hotshots. It is the most deaths on a fire line in Arizona history, the most firefighters to die on any wildfire in the US since 1933 and the most firefighters to die in America since 9/11. To say this event wasn't significant is to grossly underestimate the sacrifice. 

I feel close to this community despite never setting foot on a fire line because my family, my flesh and blood has spent years of dedication to this industry and I know countless firefighters by name. 

The Granite Mountain hotshots are based in Prescott, Arizona. Only and hour and a half's drive from my hometown. I have been through Yarnell, where the fire occurred, numerous times and feel close to the communities that were affected. All of Arizona does. 

We mourn for the families and lift up those lost. The memorial service for those Hotshots is today and God knows that I will be praying for comfort and knowledge to prevent more deaths in the future.

If you have time, please find the live broadcast online and show your support for those lost. The memorial begins at 11am Arizona time.

My dad and I last fall when he let me out on to the line at a prescribed fire in Flagstaff, AZ.