Yarnell Hill Memorial Site Plan Goes to Governor

Associated Press (AP)

PHOENIX — The Arizona House has given final approval to a bill creating a memorial site honoring the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who died in the Yarnell Hill Fire last year.

House Bill 2624 passed unanimously on Wednesday. A half-million dollars to pay for the memorial was included in the state budget.

The bill also gives the firefighters’ survivors the chance to buy the site themselves.

The bill creates a committee to oversee the memorial and administer the fund and any donations for the purchase. The committee would include relatives of the firefighters, state representatives and state parks board officials.

All but one of the 20 Hotshots on the Prescott-based crew perished in the fire on June 30.