Crew History

In 1990, the first interagency operating and evacuation plan was developed with the cooperation of Prescott Fire Department, Prescott National Forest, State Land Department and Yavapai County. The Prescott Area Wildland Urban Interface Commission was established.

Between 1991 and 2000, yearly interagency urban interface and evacuation drills began with intense public education on defensible space. The Prescott Fire Department and the Prescott National Forest worked on addressing the wildland/urban interface and began prescribed burns and mechanical fuels mitigation within the community.

Fire Chief Darrell Willis asked the Prescott City Council for permission to hire an outside consultant to conduct a wildland risk analysis. Hunt Research Inc. found that Prescott was "living on the edge" — one of nine communities in the Southwestern United States at risk of a catastrophic wildfire.

Recommendations included establishing a wildland division and a wildland fire crew that could respond to wildfires and assist the community with defensible space. Chief Willis had a vision: he wanted to see Prescott prepared for any wildland fire problem.

Chief Willis hired Duane Steinbrink to manage the newly formed fuels management crew. That year the crew built defensible space around 392 homes, fully grant funded with no cost to the city. In 2002, 738 more homes were protected. Then the Indian Fire erupted outside the city limits — disaster was averted due to fuels treatment, sound tactics, and interagency cooperation.

Prescott became the first city in Arizona to adopt a wildland/urban interface code. Todd Rhines was hired as Fire Department Fuels Management Supervisor and Eric Marsh was hired as a Fuels Crew Member. Together they removed 10,000 beetle-killed ponderosa pines at $55 per tree, paid by homeowners, covering the program's cost. The crew treated an additional 545 homes.

Chief Willis, with full support of the city manager and city council, established Crew 7 — a 20-person Type II Initial Attack hand crew that created defensible space, completely funded by grants, and available to fight wildland fires.

Leadership included Todd Rhines, Tim McElwee, Marty Cole, and Eric Marsh. Crew 7 was on fire assignment for 52 days, fought 11 wildfires in the Prescott basin, assisted 267 homes, treated 159 homes and 113 acres. 100% of wildfire assignment costs were reimbursed by the hosting agency.

Chief Willis, Duane Steinbrink, and Eric Marsh wanted Prescott to have the best wildland fire service in the country. They used "Red Zone" software to assess risk of properties around the city. Crew 7 was to be an example of how cities within the wildland/urban interface should operate. They were on the cutting edge of the future.

Crew 7 received approval from the Southwest Area Coordinating Group, becoming the first hand crew in the nation hosted by a municipality to be listed as an Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC) in training — thus becoming the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew (GMIHC).

The crew in training became fully certified as an interagency hotshot crew — joining the ranks of the most elite wildland firefighters in the country and accomplishing something no other city department had been able to do.

Chief Willis was promoted to Emergency Services Director over the Fire Department, Airport, and Regional Communications Center. Between 2005 and 2008: 619 homes treated, 385 hazardous trees felled (383 tons), 593 acres treated, 675 plans reviewed, 2,586 homes assessed, 626 building plans reviewed, 10,875 tons of material processed, and 129 days on fire assignments.

Granite Mountain was on fire assignment for 95 days, completed 1,101 assessments, treated 89 homes, assessed 278 additional acres, and completed 137 chip jobs. Chief Steinbrink retired as Wildland Division Chief. Chief Willis took over the Wildland Division. Their responsibilities were growing along with their abilities.

GMIHC obtained two 100% grants that completely funded the Wildland Division. Their work — assessments, home treatments, acreage, chip jobs, tree felling, and inspections — was doubling in number, plus an additional 115 days of fire assignments.

The National Fire Protection Association determined that Prescott Fire Department's Wildland Division Fuels Management Program was to be considered the "Gold Standard" in the nation. No other jurisdiction in the country had accomplished as many objectives or shown as much fuel mitigation. The Hotshots had been protecting the city with over $3.1 billion in assessed value, over 18,000 homes and 24,000 residents.

Entering their sixth season, the GMIHC became instructors at the Arizona Incident and Management Academy. They continued aggressive fuels treatment and completed 120 additional acres around Goldwater Lake. The crew responded to the Perkinsville, Prescott Valley, Green Gate, Hart, Thompson Ridge, Doce, West Spruce, and Mount Josh fires.

Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew was then called to the Yarnell Hill fire. This elite wildland fire crew lost 19 of its members at 1647 hours on June 30, 2013. Their commitment to excellence, their hard working attitude and their love for family and community is missed. These men, this crew was on the cutting edge and will always remain so.