Nineteen times, the silver bell rang. It was a hot summer day in Arizona's Prescott Valley, at a ceremony to honor the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who died 10 days earlier fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire. The bell rang as the names of the firefighters were read in a crowded arena, and the silence between each weighed heavier than the last.
Four years later, the ceremonies are becoming quieter and more private, but the bells still ring, the fires still burn and the memories are still raw.
Yarnell residents said this week they could see the smoke of the Goodwin Fire, burning south of Prescott, as they prepared for a ceremony at a local church, the one where they gathered to pick up the pieces of their community.
“When you sit up here and you look out and you can see the fire, it’s disturbing,” said Chuck Tidey, president of the Yarnell Hill Recovery Group.