With just a month to go until the 10th anniversary of the Mount Granite Hotshot tragedy, the funds needed to build the much-anticipated monument to the Yavapai County Courthouse Square are reportedly short.
Blaming the recent surge in transportation and material costs for the situation, the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Partnership will install a memorial in Court Square by June 30, 2023, the 10th anniversary of the tragedy. We are asking for an additional $111,000 to help.
To spread this information, someone familiar to fans of the TV show Yellowstone took part in a fundraiser.
In a circulating video of the partnership, actor Foley Smith, who plays cowboy Lloyd Pierce in “Yellowstone,” shows 19 Granite Mountain victims who died fighting the Yarnell Hill fires nearly a decade ago. We’re talking about the loss of hot shots.
“On June 30, 2013, 19 brave souls lost their lives,” Smith said. “The fire hit them. You know what happened. It seems like it was just yesterday.”
Smith later said the local community and leaders came together to form the Granite Mountain Hotshot Memorial Partnership. I call her “onee-san”. ”
The community ultimately contributed $445,000 to build the monument. “But we’re a little underfunded because shipping costs and material costs and everything else are going up,” Smith said. “I’m about $111,000 short of building that statue.”
Smith ended the video by saying, “I need to remember” the hotshot of the 19 people who fell.
If you would like to help, mail a check to 239 S. Cortez St., Prescott, Arizona, 86303. Alternatively, donors can visit her Granite Mountain Hotshots website at www.gmhsmemorial.com to find information about the memorial. In addition to projects, there are also options for online donations.
The Fellowes memorial design includes the only Hotshot backed by a granite slab inscribed with the names of the 19 fallen Hotshots, and an alligator juniper tree that Hotshot saved just days before the Yarnell Hill fire. image is drawn.
The memorial will be installed on the Cortes Street side of Courthouse Square, and a concrete pad has already been prepared.
Last week, the partnership’s chairman, Bruce Martinez, said the group still hopes to have the memorial installed in time for events to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragic tragedy on June 30, 2023. rice field.
Follow Cindy Barks on Twitter @Cindy_Barks. Please call 928-445-3333 (extension). 2034, or cbarks@prescottaz.com.
