We lost 19 of the best of the best this weekend.

[JBLUE]

This weekend we lost some of the toughest guys around. Hot Shot Fire Fighters. For those of you that have not heard of them they are the best of the best when it comes to Wildland Firefighting.

It really hits home how dangerous it really is. I never even thought about the danger for the years that I was one. It is a small tight knit community and only so many are able to make it to that level. It was not only the best job ever, but also the most physically and mentally demanding job I have ever done. To this day whenever I think I cannot finish something or go any longer at a task I just sit back and remember how hard that was to keep going 40,50,60, or even 80 hours straight with no sleep, humping a 50 pound pack an 35 pound chain saw up a steep hill in 110 degree heat, all to save a patch of land in the middle of nowhere. Man I miss it.......

There is piece in knowing they died doing what they loved to do. When your a Hot Shot you do not do it for the money, to be a hero, or for the status symbol. The money sucks pay wise. Nobody gets called a hero for the most part for saving a tree, and the vast majority of the population do not even know they exist. All you really get is when your all done and you are sitting on top of the world ( or mountain) knowing what you just did was incredible. That is more than enough.

You guys are in our thoughts and will be deeply missed.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/01/19224279-perfect-storm-wildfire-raging-in-arizona-claims-19-men-in-elite-unit?lite&GT1=43001

[royster13]

This is very sad....My "heartfelt" sympathies to their loved ones & friends....

[Command-Z]

This is terrible news... a huge tragedy.

These guys were the best of the best... they had their fire shelters, but the fire was just too fast and the area is very rugged.

Sad day... and the fire still rages on. I know the Yarnell area pretty well, though I haven't been for a while. Pretty much the whole town is gone I hear.

[whitewater]

It does suck..

When i was out rafting in idaho a few times on the Main and middle fork of the salmon..a few times there were fires there..one year it was a big problem.. we were 2 days in on a 9 day trip on the Main and the one campsite we were assigned too we were told we could not go..we had to go a few more miles downstrream..they closed the launches for a few days.. as we went down the whole mountain on one side of the river was on fire.. it was freakin hotand pretty loud..saw a few bears on the shore getting ready to cross along with bighorns..a top of the tree would pop off and fly a 100 or so feet and land and start another part on fire..

when we got to our campsite and it turned dark  we just laid there and looked back upstream and it was just glowing red...it was really something..all the next dau we saw the firefighters being shuttled up the river by jetboat  and they looked tired..
something i prob wont g=forget..

[JBLUE]

That was my first rafting experience. We cut line several miles down a canyon and they had a rafting company there shuttling us across the river. Not only was it a blast being in the boat going down river but man it felt good to get in that cold water. I have been on that very river Rob. It is an awesome place.

[whitewater]

That was my first rafting experience. We cut line several miles down a canyon and they had a rafting company there shuttling us across the river. Not only was it a blast being in the boat going down river but man it felt good to get in that cold water. I have been on that very river Rob. It is an awesome place.

its my favorite place in the world..

[Sbrem]

Incredibly sad, what else is there to say? My own problems seem pretty insignificant, prayers for the families.

Steve