Granite Mountain Hotshots - Heroes and Heartbreak

[Music] I know for many of you but it is unbearable awesome it was the day Arizona wept as the flames raged on that Sunday afternoon as the new events were unfolding it really felt like it was a body blow to the entire state 19 brave men died following their passion to fight a fire that was knocking on their own door their heroes died heroes they were heroes in our homes here in our community and their loss their passion their sacrifice inspired this man to share their story I don't know what gotten is specifically with just the situation got and I took it very personally he has brought it to the big screen a new film only the brave sooner or later the fires gonna come out get in our hometown it's the story of heroes and heartbreak the story of the Granite Mountain hotshots good evening everyone I'm Scott passed more we want to thank you for joining us for this three TV special the Granite Mountain hotshots heroes and heartbreak there's a story that could easily have gone untold they were a group of elite fire fighters who took on some of the most dangerous wildfires in the country but like so many of those who keep us all safe they did it outside of the spotlight until a lightning strike on June 28 2013 it started with a lightning strike a small fire in a remote part of the state near Yarnell Arizona that fire exploded and changed Arizona history within days that fire whipped by high winds and fueled by dry brush had grown to 2,000 acres veteran Arizona family reporter Mike wodka says he's seen that same type of story played out many times before I've been covering news in Arizona for more than 20 years and I've seen rodeo Chetta sky and the Wallow fire we've seen some big fires you know when they all start out with little they start out with a campfire they start out with a lightning strike on Sunday June 30th the Granite Mountain hotshots deployed hoping to get a hand on what was still a relatively small but growing fire Arizona family photojournalist Jim Frey was in Yarnell covering the story that day all we were talking about was it's small they got a ton of people on this this is over and done with this will be done by the end of the day but he says in just a matter of moments that all changed moments he will never forget I remember the time of day I remember that nose that process of feeling the heat on my back going outside being pelted by dirty rain and then looking to the north and seeing this wall of flames I mean that's it is so vivid and this alter that all took place and matter of minutes as I'm swinging my camera around I noticed a forest service truck coming out from a forest road just two feet so I'm shooting that and behind that Forest Service truck or three hotshot crew fans both rhythm and on the side of the state Granite Mountain hotshots all three of the hotshot trucks really what we came to learn is that those trucks came out empty because the hotshots had moved into a brush choked box canyon and became trapped in that wall of flames their fate sealed in an instant by a cruel turn of the weather the weather it is one of the basically thunderstorms that collapse and generated the outflow boundaries of 60 mile an hour winds at least the team deployed their emergency shelters but they were no match for the heat and the smoke on Monday morning the first crews reached the bodies covering each with a flag remembering their brothers who had fallen to the flames and before it was out that fire had also destroyed more than 100 buildings more than 600 people had been evacuated from Yarnell and nearby people's Valley and to this day there are still questions about what led the crew to move into that Canyon a state forestry investigation did find there were issues with radio communication but no evidence of negligence or wrongdoing from the moment those first responders found the crew to the journey to the medical examiner here in Phoenix every move was made with respect and honor the route was lined with fellow firefighters and everyday Arizonans all feeling they needed in some way in any way to say thank you and Godspeed and outside of the hotshots home base station 7 in Prescott a growing memorial of flags and flowers and a constant stream of mourners then when it seemed there were no more tears to cry normal words to say the dam's of grief broke loose at a memorial service we come before you broken and hurt him and confused and numb pray o faces of those fallen hotshots stretched out across the front of the Prescott Valley Events Center more than 6,000 people inside thousands more outside United in grief unbelievable humor and joy that was the Granite Mountain hotshots they understood what few do that integrity integrity is measured by whether you respond to the needs of your neighbors when you know you are one of the few and only ones as the capacity to respond they were 90 heroes gone at the turn of the wind for those gathered it was a chance not just to grieve but to honor these hometown heroes everyone rising to their feet to give a standing ovation when the lone surviving Granite Mountain hotshot came to the stage thank you and I miss my brothers we're here today to remember them and then a final alarm a [Music] final farewell a final thank you for 19 men who gave their lives to keep others safe the loss of the 19 men was felt most acutely in Prescott the town they called home so Prescott was in sort of a unique position and they were rightly proud of these guys and they were hometown boys you know a bunch of young men old man like me looks back on these young lives and you think these guys had so much ahead of them and so it was it was crushing depress kit it was the epicenter of the pain so many felt a place they gathered to find some comfort and as Terry Hitchcock tells us now that heartbroken town also called out someone unexpected 400 miles away hey Scott yeah I'm here in the heart of Prescott a place where many people came to grieve one of those drawn here was a man by the name of Mike Mitchell now he's a movie producer out of California he's also an avid outdoorsman and even he will say he doesn't know if it was the sorrow that he felt wanted to grieve with the community or the fact that he just wanted to honor these men he got on a plane a few weeks after the tragedy and just came here to Prescott just to be with the community what he didn't know at the time was that it would begin a year's long journey to honor these 19 Granite Mountain hotshots in a film I'm excited every day because I know we're doing anything I just know it I know that's a cocky thing to say but I told yourself cockiness maybe if you don't know Mike mention it spend five minutes with him and you'll realize it's not arrogance but passion a passion that stems from his love of the outdoors man Sheila just come back from working on a film in Europe he landed at the airport and saw the news of the Yarnell Hill Fire 19 firefighters killed dozens of homes burned the losses from the Yarnell Hill Fire already massive it was the story of survival fighting fires and forests the wilderness the wild land preserving those parts of the country for guys like me for fishermen for hunters and I took it very personally less than two weeks later he got on a plane to Arizona and I didn't do anything trusted I just sat there in the town square the park land city hall and I just watch and listen determined to make a film about these heroes the producer wanted to make sure he got to know the families when you have just experienced such that the station and somebody comes and tells you they want to make a movie they want to tell the story about your loved ones life what you hear is someone telling you want to exploit their death I have to convince the families that that is with the families onboard men shall put together a cast that also took the movie to heart the filmmakers even set up a boot camp where the actors learned to cut line carry 40 pound packs break in their boots for menschell no detail too small to honor the larger-than-life Granite Mountain hotshots people should know about the Granite Mountain hotshots these were extraordinary young men they don't think they're extraordinary these were heroes Scott coming up Mike mention not the only person involved in this movie who took it so personally coming up we'll talk to the Oscar nominee who plays superintendent Eric Marsh he became the soup on the set will talk to actor Josh Brolin there was just too many connections for me and you know I was reticent in the beginning about playing this this guy so I wasn't sure if I was the right guy and whether I could pull it off or not and of course Tara this movie is about more than just that tragic day on Yarnell Hill it's also a glimpse into the lives of those 19 men and their families just ahead Eric Marcia's widow shares her thoughts on the movie and the actors who brought their stories to the big screen josh is so open and vulnerable and raw and engaging and hurtful that I'm just full of soul which is exactly what Eric was more of the Granite Mountain hotshots heroes and heartbreak just ahead I think we've done a service you know in putting the word out there and making aware who D what these guys do and who they are Hollywood comes to Arizona the stars turned out for the premiere of only the brave that movie tells the story of the Granite Mountain hotshots and their families and the stars of that movie say they were honored to share that story and share the red-carpet spotlight with those who live through that tragedy welcome back to this three TV special the Granite Mountain hotshots heroes and heartbreak we just heard how personal this story was for the filmmaker Mike Mitchell but it also touched the hearts of the stars involved including lead actor Josh Brolin tara hitchcock caught up with him to find out why this movie hits so close to home the oscar nominee who plays superintendent Eric Marsh took this role very personally Josh Brolin actually took a break from acting lived here near Prescott for about a year but it was more than that connection that made this part so important to the actor stop acting I know it sounds like a joke it's not a joke actually they started landscaping I wanted to break and I actually moved to fresca Arizona so I had emotional connection with Prescott Arizona also it was more than that Arizona connection that affected Josh I knew about Wilde a lot of wildland firefighters and you know hotshots I knew that all that that I hadn't really I didn't know about that story particularly no one could be prouder of his boys than I am of you guys and I found these videos on Vimeo they had an emotional reaction to it fires making a run toward our line by the time she gets that she's gonna be too strong to hold the actor insisted everyone call him soup on the set and refer to each other by the names of the men they were playing in fact he became great friends with Eric's widow Amanda she's like a sister to me now I've had a hundred conversations with her we're very very close it's beyond this story now we talk behind we look out for each other and she's an incredible Brolin says they were able to convince family members that their hearts were in the right place when it came to honoring these heroes they all have the same feeling we're you know something is special you know you know regardless how it turns out we'll always have this and the fact that everything everybody's hearts in the right place everybody psyches in the right place I think we're doing a great service to honor these people here do you ever really recover from something like this honestly I don't know but for some of the folks directly impacted by the tragedy including a Granite Mountain hotshot who had just left the squad two weeks prior life does go on this ain't the greatest job in the world I don't know what is you're not an actor you know this world probably better than anybody here that's because Brandon bunch lost 19 of his friends in the Yarnell Hill Fire I've got the crew that season I'm just two weeks before the tragedy brand and left the hotshots to tend to his family his three boys are now seven five and four you know all my friends died fighting fire when Brandon heard they'd be making a film about the Granite Mountain hotshots I wasn't on board at all yeah I told them no a few times that's when Pat McCarty a former hotshot now Prescott firefighter who also said no originally told Brandon they're gonna make the movie with or without us we're there we can make a little better Brandon says it's hard watching these actors play as friends it's weird seeing them from like a distance know what I mean like it looks like besides acting as a technical adviser Brandon had a small part in the film playing his real-life best friend hotshot Garrett Zuppa grrrrrr and he had one line I asked for Chu so yeah my mom's gonna be super proud oh and then and then I opened a beer with the chainsaw a year after our set visit Brandon is still spending time with chainsaws time outdoors I'm a tree climber so we removed trees in tight areas clearing hazards and keeping things safe things he would do with his friends as a hotshot mark he says the filmmakers did a nice job capturing the essence of his friends but admits it wasn't easy to sit through the whole thing is kind of hard to watch foot I'm glad they made the movie you know you know I feel like they did a pretty good job I asked Brandon if his sons know much about the film they kind of know what happened I mean it's funny because my youngest will talk about Garrett who I played in the movie he's my best friend so Garrett you should come to our our house and eat breakfast with us and stuff my kids loved them one day those boys will get to see their father playing that man they loved throughout the process filmmakers were sensitive to the wishes of family and friends and Tara is one of the few journalists Erik Marcia's widow talked with about that Amanda Marsh is an avid horse woman she says that's actually one of the things that helped her as a hotshot wife because the crew was gone for long stretches at a time and she says that is something she wanted included in this movie the toll that takes on the families the expectation is that that we're really independent and that we flow through life really well without them the moment they arrived back in to our world it's almost like there's there's a disconnect because you've been living these way different lives for 14 to 21 days and it's very difficult than to just automatically mesh back in Marsh believes the filmmakers captured that aspect of their lives well due in great part to the actors who play both her and Eric Jennifer Connelly and Josh Brolin her way and watching her and that role was very healing for me spot over run straight into town Josh embodied Eric in a way that was breathtaking especially when you see Eric with his glasses it was wired room glasses on Mars has since remarried she says that's also part of the story how we find a way to move on when just like that dreadful fire grief threatens to consume us look at it really look at it because if you can't make friends with it you'll always be running of course this movie is very much the story of the Granite Mountain hotshots but in many ways it's much more than that it's also the story of every man and woman who stands on the front lines when danger approaches these guys are real superheroes and doing what they do my hat's off to the guys who the men and women who run when everybody's running out of still ahead how the tragedy on Yarnell Hill is shining a spotlight on all the heroes keeping us safe as the Granite Mountain hotshots heroes and heartbreak continues [Music] it's authentic and it's something that people will really come out of you know appreciating firefighters and just with a sense of understanding that Brotherhood a little more that's Brendan McDonough the lone survivor of the Granite Mountain hotshots his account of events played a huge part in getting this new movie only the brave done and he walked the red carpet this past week in Tempe for the Arizona premiere and for filmmakers that premiere was just one more effort to honor these hometown heroes welcome back to this three TV special the Granite Mountain hotshots heroes and heartbreak and while this was a premiere full of glitz and glamour Tara for those closest to the movie it wasn't the first time that they saw it you know some of the families had an opportunity to actually screen this movie privately here in Prescott but they did a big Arizona premiere at the Harkins Tempe Marketplace he had the cast walking the red carpet Josh Brolin in town miles teller also in town as well as the man he portrays in the film lone survivor Brendan McDonough slots available he lost one slide up you know what we're training for hotshots get to engage the fire directly the SEAL Team six of fire funders if you give me a chance on the way down I think one of the neat things about this whole movie is the fact that it also involves seeing part of yourself in someone else which is what happened with Eric and with you what about you did you see in Brendon well my my second grade teacher did tell my mother that I would never graduate high school and I was gonna be a juvenile delinquent you know so I think I had a lot of that I usually I got my fair share of mischief in trouble and stuff didn't mean I wasn't a wasn't a good kid I just I needed somebody to kind of say look man you don't want to do this for the rest of your life I just had a daughter recently named Mikayla when we first met it was just a really organic conversation and really just talking about family life really and just you know what's he what what is he into what am i into and I think you know miles did a really good job of just being you know just so respectful and just making it feel is organic and authentic as possible you know and not just showing up and he was this like he just really took the time to get to get depth into who I was and kind of what I was going through it how my brothers impact in my life I've seen it a few times now and it's just such a powerful film and it's just so honoring to be able to see my brother's story told in such a magnificent way and in such a huge platform you know these actors Myles really just breathe life back into who they were and what they did no matter what you hear we can't go back up there stand together our first responders don't get the kind of treatment they deserve especially not Hollywood and to be able to put this profession on screen and hopefully inspire kids to maybe not want to grow up and be spider-man but grow up and be a hotshot like that's it's pretty cool Brendan actually has a book out that goes into much more detail about what he went through before the tragedy during and after the film in theaters obviously this weekend and Tara this movie only the brave is the story of the Granite Mountain hotshots but in many ways it's also much more it's a tribute to every man and woman who feels a different calling in life a calling to put others before self to make the world a better and safer place for all of us when the Granite Mountain hotshots deployed on that Sunday in late June ready to fight a fire that threatened their neighbors their state and their community they didn't expect to face death but they certainly knew they could I've been covering terrible events really for 40 years and the response is pitch some people run in and some people run out and there is definitely a species that is driven towards that that wants to be there in the face of challenge and then cataclysmic events reporter Mike Wonka says he has seen it again and again from New York to Vegas to Yarnell Hill a special breed of person ready to face the unknown Granite Mountain 19 certainly among them photo journalist Jim Frey puts it even more bluntly to be slightly off base with this they're nuts I mean one of these guys got some you know green pants and the yellow shirts and stupid hard hats and you know might come across 200-foot walls of flame and no thanks now that kind of bravery is something producer Mike Mitchell felt as well I took it very personally with these guys we're doing something from because I'm an avid fly fisherman I loved it I loved the hike love being outdoors I really think these guys were doing this for me and it's that kind of heroism that put a state in grief at the loss of those 19 young men I think for everybody it was sort of a combination of suddenly being nauseated in a body blow when we got the notice of these 19 guys that lost their lives because we all know it is people like them that stand between us and danger between us and loss between us and chaos these guys are real superheroes and doing what they do they don't wear capes or masks but they're superheroes and so often they do it while we all sleep safely in our beds these guys do not work in an office cubicles and they're out they're out - and humping it over some of the most treacherous and difficult terrain in United States and they're doing it many times and when none of us are paying attention because they're small fires and they're not threatening gals they like to be hidden they like to be anonymous they like to not have too much attention on them but we're gonna we're gonna put a little spotlight on for a second just out of respect not only does this movie shine a spotlight on those often unsung heroes a portion of the proceeds goes to the Granite Mountain Fund it supports a number of charities supporting firefighting as well as the communities and families impacted by wildland fires and that includes the Eric Marsh Foundation right here in Arizona and by the way Tara was the only Arizona journalist invited on the set of only the brave and she'll have lots more including the stars on real travels tomorrow at 4:30 right here on three TVs so that will do it for us tonight we want to thank you for joining us and a special thanks to all the men and women out there who worked so hard to keep all of us safe we want to say goodnight and be

Channel: montyhoffman4

Views: 176,146

Keywords: Granite Mountain Hotshots, hotshots, Yarnell 19, Granite mountain, Firefighters, only the brave, KTVK, 3TV, Tara hitchcock, Scott Pasmore

Id: gO8vWQtP7R4

Length: 25min 56sec (1556 seconds)

Published: Mon May 28 2018