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Yarnell Hill Fallen Firefighters Fund

Below are the names of the firefighters killed last night at the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona. In addition, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has announced the Yarnell Hill Fallen Firefighters Fun. Click here to donate.

From the AP:

Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, based in Prescott, Ariz., were killed Sunday evening when a windblown wildfire overcame them north of Phoenix. It was the deadliest single day for U.S. firefighters since Sept. 11. Fourteen of the victims were in their 20s. Here are the stories of some of those who died:

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KEVIN WOYJECK: FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS

For 21-year-old Kevin Woyjeck, the fire station was always a second home. His father, Capt. Joe Woyjeck, is a nearly 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Keith Mora, an inspector with that agency, said Kevin often accompanied his dad to the station and on ride-alongs, and always intended to follow in his footsteps.

“He wanted to become a firefighter like his dad and hopefully work hand-in-hand,” Mora said Monday outside of the fire station in Seal Beach, Calif., where the Woyjeck family lives.

Mora remembered the younger Woyjeck as a “joy to be around,” a man who always had a smile on his face. He had been trained as an EMT and worked as an Explorer, which is a mentorship training program to become a professional firefighter.

“He was a great kid. Unbelievable sense of humor, work ethic that was not parallel to many kids I’ve seen at that age. He wanted to work very hard.”

As he spoke, Mora stood before an American flag that had been lowered to half-staff. His own fire badge was covered with a black elastic band, a show of respect and mourning for those lost in the line of duty.

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CHRIS MACKENZIE: `JUST LIKE HIS DAD’

An avid snowboarder, 30-year-old Chris MacKenzie grew up in California’s San Jacinto Valley, where he was a 2001 graduate of Hemet High School and a former member of the town’s fire department. He joined the U.S. Forest Service in 2004, then transferred two years ago to the Prescott Fire Department, longtime friend Dav Fulford-Brown told The Riverside Press-Enterprise.

MacKenzie, like at least one other member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, had followed his father into firefighting. Michael MacKenzie, a former Moreno Valley Fire Department captain, confirmed that he had been informed of his son’s death.

“I can’t talk about it,” he said.

Fulford-Brown, also a former firefighter, feared for the worst as soon as he heard the news of the Arizona firefighters. “I said, `Oh my God, that’s Chris’ crew.’ I started calling him and calling him and got no answer,” he told The Press-Enterprise. MacKenzie, he said, “lived life to the fullest … and was fighting fire just like his dad.”

“He was finishing his credentials to get promoted and loved the people. It’s an insane tragedy.

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BILLY WARNEKE: `DOING WHAT HE LOVED’

Billy Warneke, 25, and his wife, Roxanne, were expecting their first child in December, his grandmother, Nancy Warneke, told The Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, Calif. Warneke grew up in Hemet, Calif., along with his fellow Granite Mountain hotshot, Chris MacKenzie. He was a four-year Marine Corps veteran who served a tour in Iraq and had joined the hotshot crew in April, buying a property in Prescott, near where his sister lived, the newspaper reported.

Nancy Warneke said she called Billy’s sister after seeing the fire on the news.

“She said, `He’s gone. They’re all gone,”‘ Nancy Warneke told The Press-Enterprise. “Even though it’s a tragedy for the whole family, he was doing what he loved to do. He loved nature and was helping preserve nature.”

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SCOTT NORRIS: THE `IDEAL AMERICAN GENTELMAN’

Scott Norris, 28, was known around Prescott through his part-time job at Bucky O’Neill Guns.

“Here in Arizona the gun shops are a lot like barbershops. Sometimes you don’t go in there to buy anything at all, you just go to talk,” said resident William O’Hara. “I never heard a dirty word out of the guy. He was the kind of guy who if he dated your daughter, you’d be OK with it.

“He was just a model of a young, ideal American gentleman.”

O’Hara’s son Ryan, 19, said Norris’ life and tragic death had inspired him to live a more meaningful life.

“He was a loving guy. He loved life. And I’ve been guilty of not looking as happy as I should, and letting things get to me, and Scott wasn’t like that at all.”

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ANDREW ASHCRAFT: AN ATHLETIC, GO-GETTER

Prescott High School physical education teacher and coach Lou Beneitone taught many of the Hotshots, and remembered 29-year-old Andrew Ashcraft as a fitness-oriented student.

“He had some athletic ability in him and he was a go-getter, too. You could pretty much see, from young freshman all the way, he was going to be physically active.”

Beneitone said athletic prowess was a must for the Hotshots. “That’s what it takes. You gotta be very physically fit, and you gotta like it, gotta like the hard work.”

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— Anthony Rose, 23

— Eric Marsh, 43

— Robert Caldwell, 23

— Clayton Whitted , 28

— Dustin Deford, 24

— Sean Misner, 26

— Garret Zuppiger, 27

— Travis Carter, 31

— GrantMcKee, 21

— Travis Turbyfill, 27

— Jesse Steed, 36

— Wade Parker, 22

— Joe Thurston, 32

— John Percin, 24

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Contributing to this report were AP reporters Raquel Maria Dillon in Seal Beach, Calif., Sue Manning in Los Angeles and Hannah Dreier in Prescott.

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