- Joy A. Collura and (emphasis added here on these 5
Part 1 of 5 - Underneath every simple, obvious story about human error,’ there is a deeper, more c-B
Part 1 of 5 - Underneath every simple, obvious story about ‘human error,’ there is a deeper, more complex story - a story about the system in which people work. Will these formerly unrevealed public records change the account of what occurred on June 30, 2013?
"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:1 (NIV)
Views expressed to "the public at large” and "of public concern"
DISCLAIMER: Please fully read the front page of the website (link below) before reading any of the posts ( www.yarnellhillfirerevelations.com )
The authors and the blog are not responsible for misuse, reuse, recycled and cited and/or uncited copies of content within this blog by others. The content even though we are presenting it public if being reused must get written permission in doing so due to copyrighted material. Our sincerest apologies for the delays. These posts were due out in August 2019 yet we had WIX.com website research a matter, and we are now finally able to rebuild the pages and make them "live." This extensive post may offend some due to the time of the year, however, we must stay the course to release information because more is yet to come out in future posts. To avoid such offense to some, please avoid further reading the posts until you find a proper reflective time for yourself. I did ask many people who were affected by this tragic Yarnell Hill Fire event and they said it was okay to post it this weekend. I know some people would not want any of this out at any time, yet I also know too many for "mental health" reasons need this out ASAP. Again - please avoid reading any further if you are unable to handle "sensitive material." Thank you.
Figure 11. PDF JPEG image of The Big Lie about "every FF deserves a safe assignment" and how the truth counts. Source: Mark Smith
Mr. Smith of Mission Center Solutions makes some very valid statements and those are captured as bullet points in the PDF JPEG image above titled: Honoring the Fallen" or Disrespecting the Dead?
I especially liked the one about the truth as a worthy anchor point to begin to honor the living and the dead. The truth is always a good place to start particularly when discussing how and why 19 young FFs died.
Mission Centered Solutions (MCS) Fall 2016 - The Big Lie - June 16, 2016 "Honor the Fallen Essay Introduction" "The [Big Lie] that wildland firefighting is safe. Young firefighters and their families are told that they have a "right" to a safe work environment. It is explicit in the Interagency Standards for Fire and Aviation Operations 'Every individual has the right to turn down unsafe assignments.'"
"The lie is so insidious that it permeates the thinking of many fire managers and agency administrators to the point of denial, despite a steady flow of coffins standing as evidence to the contrary." (emphasis added)
“One of the few acts of free will that tragedy leaves within our control is the chance to grow. Our brothers have given us such a precious and hard won opportunity to learn new knowledge and apply lessons. We realize and seek to highlight that cultural and other human factors risks are just as profound and potentially deadly as physical risks on any incident." The "our [GMHS] brothers have given us such a precious and hard won opportunity to learn new knowledge and apply lessons" statement is a bit hard to accept. Their lives were taken from them, they didn't "willingly give their lives" as so many news articles and news releases spout the hero mantra.
"The results WILL be repeated unchecked unless we commit to looking inside, to looking deeper at how we think, how we talk and how we perceive ourselves." Agreed completely here.
"Our end state is that the group’s efforts became a catalyst for continued cultural introspection into how human factors affect our decisions. The engagement generates a watershed event from the fire, having provoked thought, dialogue, questions and explorations in all corners of the wildland fire community. Yarnell Hill leads to a stronger, more self‐aware and more resilient wildland fire culture."
"The [Big Lie] that wildland firefighting is safe. Young firefighters and their families are told that they have a "right" to a safe work environment. It is explicit in the Interagency Standards for Fire and Aviation Operations 'Every individual has the right to turn down unsafe assignments.'
"The lie is so insidious that it permeates the thinking of many fire managers and agency administrators to the point of denial, despite a steady flow of coffins standing as evidence to the contrary."
“One of the few acts of free will that tragedy leaves within our control is the chance to grow. Our brothers have given us such a precious and hard won opportunity to learn new knowledge and apply lessons. We realize and seek to highlight that cultural and other human factors risks are just as profound and potentially deadly as physical risks on any incident."
"The results WILL be repeated unchecked unless we commit to looking inside, to looking deeper at how we think, how we talk and how we perceive ourselves." Agreed completely here.
"Our end state is that the group’s efforts became a catalyst for continued cultural introspection into how human factors affect our decisions. The engagement generates a watershed event from the fire, having provoked thought, dialogue, questions and explorations in all corners of the wildland fire community Yarnell Hill leads to a stronger, more self‐aware and more resilient wildland fire culture."
This YH Fire conclusion is true, if and only if, the complete truth of the human factors that influenced the GMHS fatalities are objectively examined and revealed.
"Our effort was perceived as having rendered due honor and respect to the Granite Mountain Hotshots.” (italics emphasis original and all other emphasis added)
Perceived by yourself or by the entire the Hot Shot and wildland fire community?
Hear ye - hear ye ... read all about it! ( http://wildlandfireleadership.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-big-lie.html ) Did the PFD FFs and as many as thirty (30) WFs total, that spent the June 30 night to early morning July 1, 2013, night at the GMHS deployment / fatality site with their Hot Shot "Brothers" really make "a PACT" to avoid discussing what they had witnessed and talked about that night truly "honor the fallen?" (Figure 38) Or was it something else? Clearly, in their efforts to "honor the fallen" the "crime scene" was definitely disturbed prior to the SAIT and ADOSH investigators thoroughly examining, photographing, and cataloging the fatality scene when the GMHS bodies were placed into body bags and moved in order to be transported to Phoenix, AZ to the Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office. Is or was that truly the right thing to do?
Or was it merely the reactionary, emotional response of the traditional right thing to do by municipal FFs that engage in wildland fires based on this historic 1908 FDNY structural / municipal FF quote below that they were merely doing what was required of them as FFs? "Firemen are going to get killed. When they join the department they face that fact. When a man becomes a fireman his greatest act of bravery has been accomplished. What he does after that is all in the line of work. They were not thinking of getting killed when they went where death lurked. They went there to put the fire out, and got killed. Firefighters do not regard themselves as heroes because they do what the business requires.” Chief Edward F. Croker, FDNY 1908 (emphasis added)
Figure 12. PDF JPEG image of "Mystery Man" and GMHS Eric Marsh photos Source: Schoeffler, Honda, Collura
Mystery Man is the WF/FF standing on the ridgeline alongside GMHS Marsh in the top left of this photo - anyone have a good pixel enhancer and / or experience to figure it out in more detail? It's important to point out that the alleged SAIT "Investigators" told me that the Mystery Man did not exist even though I have a photo of him and GMHS Marsh.
As far as I know, the Yarnell Hill Fire tragedy is the ONLY wildland fire in history, that had two eyewitnesses that watched, photographed, videoed, and / or talked with the WFs, for two days prior to and including the fatality day by going the full distance to tell the true story of what occurred. For the sake of transparency, there was the July 9, 2001, Thirty-Mile Fire on the Okanogan / Wenatchee NF in Washington where two citizen camper eyewitnesses were entrapped in fire shelters along with the WFs (three in one fire shelter) on that fatality fire where four WFs were killed. So, please let me know if you are aware of any other similar wildfire tragedies if I am incorrect.
( https://www.investigativemedia.com/chapter-iii-for-comments/#comment-8940 )
This is a comment made by me for the October 4, 2014, Wildfire Today article statements correcting Gabbert's incorrect statements in his article: "... Eric Marsh and the mystery man in Joy’s photos with Eric Marsh still never noone [sic] has come forward naming themselves they are that person with Eric and not in the reports that I have seen yet ..." (emphasis added) from October 4, 2013, Wildfire Today "Granite Mountain Hotshots, in videos." Our numerous (Sonny 'Tex' Gilligan and Joy A. Collura) Wildfire Today comments are well worth reading. ( https://wildfiretoday.com/2013/12/24/granite-mountain-hotshots-in-videos/ )
The following is my response in green as I explain to the InvestigativeMEDIA participant Fire20+ team in orange text from a March 2019 text message on the subject.
Please take the time to review each of the photos in the links below. Here is my public declaration - I, Joy A. Collura, matter-of-factually photographed this 'Mystery Man' on June 30, 2013, sometime between 0915 and 1015 AM using a Kodak Easyshare camera capable of 26mm wide angles to 624mm (24X) optical zoom; not what was being told in the Hotshot Industry from Fire Author, John MacLean's, researcher Holly Neill's good friend and InvestigativeMEDIA participant using the avatar of "Fire 20+" team. On March 7, 2019, 12:23PM, after viewing the Mystery Man and Eric Marsh photo, Fire 20+'s team arrogantly and incorrectly stated: "it was taken at 6:39 AM ..." (detailed below in Figure 11a) NOTE - on the contrary, at that time (6:39 AM) I was on my cell with my mother at that time arguing with Sonny about going up that box canyon at the same GPS coordinates that later is where the men died versus scaling boulders around the base; so I was not taking a photo nor can you see the ridgeline where these men were standing on ( in the old mine areas ) when we were down below in the box canyon. That is where I was at 6:39 AM.
What was your agenda there Fire20+ team players by placing this further false information out into the Wildland Hotshot and WF / FF Industry?
Figure 12a. Google Earth Ruler Line image of where Eyewitness Hiker Collura saw and watched GMHS Marsh talking with Mystery Man at about 0915 (9:15 AM) to 1015 (10:15 AM) best estimate on June 30, 2013, on the ridgeline at a distance of about 189 to 193 feet. Collura later photographed Mystery Man and Marsh from a distance (Figure 11) Source: Google Earth and Joy A. Collura
Consider now the verbatim cellphone text message below from Fire20+ on March 27, 2019 at 12:33 PM in ORANGE regarding the Mystery Man photo in Figure 11 above.
"Here's the photo. It was taken @ 639am on June 30. They didn't even run into Marsh until an hour and a half later at 808 am, coming up the trail below them!
The two guys on the hill are from the overnight IA/Moki [Helitack] and Lewis [Type 2 Inmate Crew Boss] and neither has a red hard hat. Oh and photo was taken with 57.7 mm Zoom, they weren't even close to the ridge at this point."
NOTE - Are you ready as to why and how that photo was taken? When Eric Shane Marsh came down for the last time to speak to us YH Fire eyewitness hikers, he alerted us in a "fatherly" tone that we were not properly geared up and so they would not drop any retardant until we left the area. Marsh stated that it was better him (Marsh) than the man up there (Mystery Man) to tell us.
Moments before Marsh walked down, I was trying to scope the best place to use the bathroom (not the "squat and go" kind but the - coming on feel - of Heat Stroke abdominal cramps kind) because "that" week I walked from the Prescott DMV to Wilhoit, plus the two days prior hikes on the Weavers in hot weather alerting prospectors. When Eric arrived to tell us about leaving the area - I still had to "go" - and I knew I had those two men above; Eric and this "Mystery Man," plus Air Attack hovering above, and the Crew and the many vehicles down below who have a good "eye" on the two track ridge.
Obviously, there were more than one in the air that day as seen in the numerous links of my photos from June 30, 2013, below.
( https://photos.app.goo.gl/84YGXseEg1UQU2LR9 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/iWQ7Vuay3PpnwU6i9 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/aYWwsCuo3JpiuqGx8 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/xjXXGK8yYGLXYA3AA ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/DCbU7Riw1uPY2t4g8 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/CyK4Mx8yXGMLWkSd9 ) and
( https://photos.app.goo.gl/1YMttACSgvjmfu4o8 )
Additionally, from our view point on the top of the Weavers, the GMHS looked like tiny ants - and remember, I had to "go" and wondered how long it was going to take this single-lined Crew to get up there. NOTE: we did not know these were the GMHS until the Daily Courier reporter Joanna Dodder Nellans informed us in the YH Fire evacuation that the photos we had were of the GMHS.
( https://photos.app.goo.gl/eaahyTpPrc4qJgmy7 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/b3BhdQXxDzA2PXtM7 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/RzMGXVTCkdotHBqT7 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/LCRwRQkNwUFp7ecD9 )
I was thinking about the area Eric flagged earlier and if that was a good area to go and would I have the time to take care of things because the GMHS were coming up still:
( https://photos.app.goo.gl/uWrgGvS7EEgow4ko7 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/dgC9h3xggejbSAwo9 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/a4JcAKN29Na5msRN7 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/66EES5aF3eBN2bHF7 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/Swhm634o4fyVDmxK7 ) and ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjrQUW9D5mjC38qFA ).
It was brushy with some open areas and I still had many men coming up; and I had pains and I had to "go" -Meanwhile, Sonny told me: ' take this picture and that picture' when I was in my mood or mode to"go." So, that's when I took the GMHS crew head-on video setting and photos. And as noted in previous posts, these were stolen from me at our 'Hiking Headquarters' in Yarnell while we were in evacuation mode. These consisted of about two dozen photos and the video. It was also Sonny in his loud tone (because he is hard of hearing), said 'these men look as though they are on their "death march" because he felt they were looking 'too spent, too tired' to even be on that two track ridge, much less a wildfire.
I think it is rather ironic that the "Marsh's death march" phrase was also used on the "Student of Fire" (SoF) website and that there were ironically "19 comments" on the "On the Road: Yarnell" - January 18, 2017, post by studentoffire - 19 Comments (emphasis added)
( http://studentoffire.org/index.php/2017/01/18/on-the-road-yarnell/ )
Student of Fire himself posted: " ...I ... wondered why the hell they decided to make that mad dash, to go on Marsh’s death march. Nobody knows." (emphasis added)
And be sure to read through the SoF comments as well because a couple family members appear, one gracious and one rebuking,. including BRHS Brian Frisby's sister. And then there is Matt, the final comment 19, on January 27, 2017 at 7:55 pm, was spot on with his views about the human factors and the investigation and much more:
"... It is unforgivable that we allow sentiment and tradition prevent us from learning anything from the human factors surrounding Yarnell because we continue to be blinkered and sentimental in our eagerness to “not speak ill” of the dead. It is nothing short of astonishing that the official conclusion was that everybody involved in the Yarnell Hill Fire did everything right – despite the incineration of the 19 hotshots by flames so hellish that granite boulders fractured. Covering up facts because they make us uncomfortable dishonors the dead, and ensures the same mistakes will be made in the future." (emphasis added) SoF Commenter Matt at comment #19
SoF commenter Matt knows that the YH Fire and GMHS debacle, including that the SAIT-SAIR was a complete joke.
Sonny wanted me to take photos of the men - Eric and the Mystery Man - when I was right below them, but I was still in that mood to "go." Finally, I got to hide and "go" in this view of the boulderous area link and photo below:
( https://photos.app.goo.gl/rWxmPgT3XmYik59t8 ).
Here is a Google Earth view (below) of the ridge top two-track road photo with Sonny in the photo sitting in this boulderous area with Highway 89 on the left as seen in the link above.
Figure 12b. Google Earth image of the ridge top two-track road photo where Sonny is in the photo sitting in this boulderous area with Highway 89 on the left (https://photos.app.goo.gl/rWxmPgT3XmYik59t8 ) road is visible from left (lower corner) to right (middle) across the lower half of the image. The boulderous areas discussed above are also visible. Source: Google Earth and Joy A. Collura
After I was up looking where Air Attack was and doing my business ... I finished covering my hole and washed my hands ... Sonny asked if I got the "pics of the planes and the two men." It was a little over 20 minutes after we last left Eric - I then took the "Mystery Man" photo and this photo of Eric Shane Marsh alone on the top of the Weavers wearing a red hard hat. ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZbKCefzwqe18owry7 )
NOTE: Contrary to the "Social Media" world and the Fire20+ team, I do, in fact, have GMHS Eric Shane Marsh in my photos in the links above and below. It matters little how much you all want to distract and narrate a "new story" of my eyewitness account of June 30, 2013, Eric Marsh before I saw him walk to "Mystery Man"
( https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZbKCefzwqe18owry7 )
Please remember people, my EasyShare Z980 Digital Camera fell down with me ages ago down a 15-foot mine shaft, so my camera "dysfunctionally" worked and professionally was determined that the metadata is unknown, So, if the Fire20+ team went by the 'Cameraƒ/41/80057.7mmISO125' metadata on the Google links - it is also incorrect. And so, she validated my point.
NOTE: I am absolutely clear on the time frames of my account of June 30,2013, from notes taken proximate to the event and memory.
Shown here in the following link is the Mystery Man and Eric Marsh in the center left of the photo in this link below:
( https://photos.app.goo.gl/UjaiUWUatvETKxJo7 ).
I am firm that this "Mystery Man" photo was not taken at 6:39 AM as the Fire 20+ team stated - this "Mystery Man" with Eric Marsh photo was taken more like 9:15 AM to 10:15 AM. The photo was taken a little under three quarters (3/4) of a mile in distance - and both photos containing these men, clearly show in one of them, Eric Marsh wearing a "red hard hat."
For those of you who so much like to discount these facts, especially stating it was not Eric Shane Marsh wearing a "red hard hat" and that there was never a "Mystery Man" - The photos clearly and unequivocally reveal the truth. Once again, I saw and photographed Eric Shane Marsh wearing a red hard hat talking to Mystery Man.
This link that follows shows the actual distance and if you "zoom in" up on top of the ridge on the Weavers above the flames to the right of flames is Eric Shane Marsh. ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/TcKuEyx62QmJ956S9 ) To the ones ill-minded and doing such, "Get over it" - your narratives and fabrication attempts to alter or change history are feckless.
Eric Shane Marsh and Mystery Man were talking on the Weaver Mountain peak on the morning of June 30, 2013. Tex Harold Eldon Gilligan (Sonny) and I witnessed that and photographed it.
Even if you all wish to twist my eyewitness account, the funny part is that none of you were even there that day. Are you all trying to do the ol' Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to me, telling me that I did not witness factual events, like you tried with the Thirtymile Fire survivor, Thom Taylor, where four young firefighters died in Washington on the July 10, 2001, tragedy? The alleged "Investigators" told him the same thing, that he did not hear those that died, and that it was him instead. I will not reveal the graphic details recounted to me. Did you catch in these two photos in the links below, the "black hard hat" GMHS, or do they not exist as well? Just curious.
In the SAIT interview below, the Moki Helitack Crewman Nate Peck addressed this "Mystery Man" and stated that he "spoke with authority" - therefore, maybe something he said may have influenced Marsh with 'their' plans for the day and Marsh's subsequent actions forcefully attempting (and succeeding) in getting the GMHS to leave their Safety Zone at the worst possible time, resulting in their ultimate deaths. Nonetheless, it is worth considering.
NOTE: However, one of the SAIT "Investigators" told me that this person speaking to Eric Marsh "didn't exist" and you never talked with him, hence he was given the name "Mystery Man." Even though I have a photo proving it?
What follows is Nate Peck's interview on July 13, 2013, with SAIT SAIR Team Leader Jim Karels and Co-Team Leader Mike Dudley.
NOTE: I find this extremely significant to have both of the SAIT Team Leader Jim Karels and SAIT Co-Team Leader Mike Dudley together interview Nate Peck. Was it because of 'Mystery Man' and his time talking with GMHS / DIVS A Eric Marsh?
Peck was IQCS qualified as an ICT4 - FFT1 and temporarily assigned to the Moki Helitack; he was regularly assigned to the NE Washington - Colville NF as an Asst. Engine Operator.
Peck stated: "I saw someone standing by sling location. I thought he spoke with EM [Eric Marsh] at that time. He was asking excellent questions about conditions. Someone made the comment that he's really on it. Mentioned that the fire had really blown up yesterday afternoon." (emphasis added) "The question[s] asked by EM [Eric Marsh] were well thought out, he was painting a picture for himself."(emphasis added)" I have struggled with the IC and process." (emphasis added)
Mystery Man was wearing a white full brim hardhat. The color white usually designates a supervisor. Once again, how did 'Mystery Man' and his time with GMHS / DIVS A Eric Marsh fit into the day's tragic outcome? And how about the fact that both of the SAIT Team Leaders together interviewed Nate Peck. Was it because of 'Mystery Man' and his time talking with GMHS / DIVS A Eric Marsh and the final outcome of the day?
SPECIAL NOTE: Sonny said "take the picture" and so, I did take the picture of two men on the ridgeline (Figure 12) ... but keep in mind this was not when I was 188 feet away but around the bend at a distance when the photo in Figure 12 was taken. I was at this spot in this link: ( https://photos.app.goo.gl/rWxmPgT3XmYik59t8 ).
So then, one can be left with the "what ifs" and that is okay and natural... what if there were were two new set of folks up there and that was not Marsh like some like to believe who were never on the Weavers that day yet the bottom line is that "Mystery Man" was a real live human being that day in whatever capacity he was working and clearly existed on June 30, 2013. as seen in the photo in Figure 12 above. And he was with Marsh and we stood less than 200 feet away from that moment because Marsh stated later on to me saying: 'it is better coming from me than from him to you' as he looked up at this man on the ridgeline wearing full brimmed white hardhat as we all looked up in that direction at "Mystery Man."
Clearly, we do deserve to know who he was and in what capacity he was working, what his position, and intentions were that morning. Some have felt they obviously see the tan-colored Kevlar style fire pants in the photo. In reality, the bottom-line takeaway is Sonny and I did, in fact, see and hear these two men talking less than 200 feet away; and one can debate the photo until the end of time Matter-of-factly, on June 30, 2013, someone wearing a full brimmed white hardhat spoke to Marsh near us (the two eyewitness) hikers. Sonny and I both know and believe that is what is in picture I took that morning.
Figure 13. PDF JPEG images of (left) June 30, 2013, 10:40:20 (10:20 AM) Blue Ridge Hot Shots (BRHS) photo of increasing fire behavior with what are two separate and distinct smoke columns and (right) photo of increasing fire behavior with what are two separate and distinct smoke columns photographed by an Anonymous-By-Request citizen. Source: (left) Blue Ridge Hot Shots (BRHS) and (right) Anonymous-By-Request citizen and Schoeffler, Honda, Collura
This pair of photos above in Figure 13 above represents the same separate and distinct smoke columns (plumes) emerging from the Sesame Street and Shrine Corridor area and the BSR respectively, from two separate locations photographed 54 seconds apart.
Figure 14. PDF JPEG images of two GMHS Christopher MacKenzie photographs approximately two minutes apart. The left photo (IMG_2736.JPG) was taken with an Apple iPhone4S Smartphone at 1551:58. The right photo (IMG_0889.JPEG) was photographed with a Canon PowerShot SD 1400 IS Digital camera at 1533:56 (3:15:56 PM) Southwest winds are increasing the fire behavior and pushing the fire in a Northeasterly direction. The small opening with the dark dot in the middle (lower third-middle of photo) is the "Old Grader" site where their lookout was positioned until retrieved by the BRHS. Source: GMHS Christopher MacKenzie (RiP), dCourier; KPHO
These photographs (Figures 13 & 14) represent documented evidence of the GMHS, ready to move, wearing their full PPE and fire gear as if they are ready to go, ready to work, ready to do something, once their supervisors conclude their "discussing our options" discreet radio channel conversation. This radio conversation was whether they were going to stay in place in their Safety Zone or whether they were going to leave and head elsewhere, into the unburned fuels with obviously increased fire behavior from the adverse winds from the forecast outflows.
Figure 15. PDF JPEG images of GMHS Mackenzie (RiP) photo June 30, 2013, series from (approx.) 3:51 to 3:55 PM facing N to NW Source: YCSO Drop Box
The GMHS Mackenzie (RiP) photo June 30, 2013, series above from (approx.) 3:51 to 3:55 PM facing North to Northwest is contained within a Drop Box account from the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office (YCSO) given to the SAIT asquoted below in the initial image from the Drop Box."Christopher MacKenzie, a member of the Granite Mountain IHC, took these photos on June 30, 2013 withhis cell phone. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office provided them to Randy Okon, member of the Accident Investigation Team."
What is occurring here (above) during this series of photos depicted in Figure 15, and covered in a 2015 AZCentral newspaper article (link below) by R. Anglen, D. Wagner, and Y.W. Sanchez titled "Yarnell fire: new account of hotshot deaths" is an integral part of what is commonly referred to as the "Discussing our options" GMHS discreet Crew Channel radio transmissions video. Woefully, there are key portions of the radio transmissions that were likely altered and removed (by the SAIT and / or others) from the GMHS MacKenzie video clip.
Typically, the Figure texts are placed beneath the images and photos, however, due to the six (6) PDF JPEG images below, the Figure 15 a-f series will be posted above the images. The article is readable in this format and a summary is provided below from a research paper as well.
Figure 15a. PDF JPEG images of R. Anglen, D. Wagner, and Y.W. Sanchez April 3, 2015, article titled "Yarnell fire: new account of hotshot deaths" page 1 of 6, including snippets of portions cut off from the bottom of three pages. Source: AZ Central.com
Figure 15b. PDF JPEG image of R. Anglen, D. Wagner, and Y.W. Sanchez April 3, 2015, article titled "Yarnell fire: new account of hotshot deaths" page 2 of 6, including snippets of portions cut off from the bottom of three pages. Source: AZ Central.com
Figure 15c. PDF JPEG image of Snippet of missing / blocked off portion above from April 3, 2015, article in Figure 15b. above. Source: AZCentral.com
Figure 15d. PDF JPEG image of R. Anglen, D. Wagner, and Y.W. Sanchez April 3, 2015, article titled "Yarnell fire: new account of hotshot deaths" page 2 of 6, including snippets of portions cut off from the bottom of three pages. Source: AZ Central.com
Figure 15e. PDF JPEG image of Snippet of missing / blocked off portion above from Figure 14d. above Source: AZ Central.com
Figure 15f. PDF JPEG image of R. Anglen, D. Wagner, and Y.W. Sanchez article titled "Yarnell fire: new account of hotshot deaths" page 2 of 6, including snippets of portions cut off from the bottom of three pages. Source: AZ Central.com
If interested, please consider the following summary of the AZ Central article above in Figures 15a-f. from a 2018 AHFE paper titled: "Epic Human Failure on June 30, 2013" (Schoeffler and Honda)
( https://philpapers.org/rec/SCHEHF )
Figure 16. "Granite Mountain Hot Shot last video by Christopher MacKenzie" altered by the SAIT and now posted on YouTube. Source: dCourier videos and YouTube
The YouTube video has these remarks: "Granite Mountain Hotshot Christopher MacKenzie shot these last two video clips shortly after 4:00 p.m. on June 30, 2013. These are the last images of the hotshots before theytragically died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire at approximately 4:50 p.m." ( https://youtu.be/omfw_Unt_VQ ) "Granite Mountain Hotshots last video by Christopher MacKenzie" dCouriervideos - Published on Sep 28, 2013
NOTE: Typical of many June 30, 2013, YH Fire and GMHS records, the dCourier.com link has been removed from the link in the remarks provided on YouTube, and is no longer available.
This video, as posted on YouTube, is only 18 seconds. There is credible analytical evidence that this video was deceptively altered, with portions removed making it two nine-second videos taken 39 seconds apart. GMHS Crewmember Chris MacKenzie captured a fragment of a crucial radio conversation between Marsh and Steed. The 18-second video was edited into two parts after his video camera was recovered. We are supposed to believe that Christopher only took two separate 9 seconds videos at 4:02 that afternoon. In the video, Marsh’s voice can be heard coming from a radio held by Steed. “I was just saying, I knew this was coming when I called you and asked what your comfort level was,” Marsh said in the first short video. “I could just feel it, ya know.”
The video fades and then picks up with Steed saying: "The fire has almost made it to the two-track road” on which they had hiked in that morning. Steed was using what is commonly referred to in Human Factors literature as "Hinting" or "Mitigating" speech rather than using direct speech with Marsh, instead of pressing the point with Marsh on his (Steed) and the overall GMHS comfort level. One of the GMHS Crewmembers can be heard saying something to the effect of: "We haven't felt comfortable all day" immediately after Marsh is heard talking about Steed's "comfort level."
The mysterious 18-second video reportedly was made available to Forestry’s Serious Accident Investigation Team (SAIT) in July, but it was not included in the SAIT-SAIR publicly released on September 28. The Prescott Courier, however, posted the video on its website the same morning that the report was released.
In depth InvestigativeMEDIA Yarnell Hill Fire commentary follows in these links directly below. Use "Ctrl-F" to search. Sometimes these hyperlinks work and sometimes they don't, so you may have to cut and paste or even Google search them.
( https://www.investigativemedia.com/yarnell-hill-fire-investigation-ignored-major-mistakes-by-thestate/#comment-4767 ) and
It is well worth reading ALL of the following paraphrased excerpts of what WantsToKnowTheTruth (WTKTT) provided in the InvestigativeMEDIA comment (4510) link above. The published MacKenzie video was, in fact, edited by the Prescott Daily Courier using YouTube Video Editor (i.e. "... the published version of the MacKenzie video was edited using YouTube’s own online video editor.")
"The original video was ‘published’ by the The Prescott Daily Courier one hour before the SAIR report was released to the public on September 28, 2013.
YouTube account name: dCouriervideos YouTube account owner: The Prescott Daily Courier Total videos uploaded as of 11/23/13: 77 videos. Total subscriptions to this channel as of 11/23/13: 107 subscriptions Video Title: Granite Mountain Hotshots last video by Christopher MacKenzie Published: Sep 28, 2013 Video statistics Through Nov 22, 2013 Total Views 28,353 Total Time watched: 7 days Total Subscriptions driven: 5 Total Shares: 9
The following comment information is provided: "Granite Mountain Hotshot Christopher MacKenzie shot these last two video clips shortly after 4:00 p.m. on June 30, 2013. These are the last images of the hotshots before they tragically died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire at approximately 4:50 p.m. Published on Sep 28, 2013."
"See related story on dCourier.com (clickable link). But just to the right of that commentary, in small print, is also the following: (Unable to locate any "clickable link.") "Created using: YouTube Video Editor Source videos: none View attributions ( clickable link )
"NOTE: If you click the ‘View attributions’ link all you get is this: (Unable to locate any "attributions link.") Granite Mountain Hotshots last video by Christopher MacKenzie by dCouriervideos
So then, it readily appears that someone from the Prescott Daily Courier uploaded either one original video clip, or two separate clips, and then used the online YouTube video editor to create the actual public release version of only 18 seconds
. "The ‘original upload(s)’ used to create this ‘edited’ video are no longer present on the ‘dCouriervideos’ site. Either the one original upload or the two separate uploads were DELETED after they got done using the YouTube editor to create the public release version that we can see.
"The online ‘YouTube’ video editor can’t do much, but it can certainly be used to either just ‘combine videos’ or ‘edit out portions’ before that ‘combine’ operation or be used to ‘chop out’ sections of just one single video and then tie them back together with a small ‘fade’ between the remaining sections (as seen in the publishedMacKenzie video).
"Here is the full feature list for the online YouTube editor: (Combine videos, Add music, Trimclips, Insert transitions, Rotate clips, Stabilize clips, Add text effects)" NOTE: The slight ‘fade’ seen between the two 9 second MacKenzie videoclips in the published (YouTube) version MAY have been automaticallyinserted during just a simple ‘combine videos’ operation (this seems to be the default for that option) OR it could have been done manually with ‘Insert Transitions’ option.
"I still believe there has to be more than just these two ‘edited’ 9 second video clips. No one just shoots 9 second video clips, especially when there are (apparently) just a few moments separating the two. If you really are trying to ‘capture a moment’ with video and audio then you would hold your finger down on that shutter button and capture the entire conversation moment."
"The 'hunker and be safe' directive from OPS1 (Abel) to Marsh is referenced in BOTH the SAIR and Jim Karel’s notes. That’s the point. Karel’s notes say that the only reason they can be sure Abel said that to Marsh is because they “have it in the VIDEO,” however, Karel’s notes contradict his statement because they also say Abel did not specifically recall saying that when he was interviewed." Which one is it then?
"So, for them to “run the quote” and post it anyway in the SAIR, is further proof that Karels was telling the truth in his notes and that the SAIT DOES have a ‘video recording' of Abel actually saying that. "As noted above in the Figure 15 a-f. series above, we normally place the "Figure" designation below the images, however, in this case, three You Tube GMHS Christopher MacKenzie cross-fade video links (Figure16a-c.) and one GMHS Robert Caldwell cross-fade video link (Figure 16d.) and the two ABC News 15 crossfade videos (Figures 16e-f.) all with detailed explanatory and informative comments all thanks to WTKTT will be placed above each video link (Figures 16a-f.) to make you better aware of them as they are presented below. Viewing the GMHS and YH Fire crossfade videos will, hopefully, reveal the anomalies and allow you to conclude that altering and removing of data and such occurred in the various videos.
Consider now Figures 16a-d. You Tube GMHS Christopher MacKenzie cross-fade video links follow BELOW Source: YouTube and WantsToKnowTheTruth (WTKTT). What follows is a series of mostly paraphrases from WantsToKnowTheTruth (WTKTT) and his excellent work on a series of related YH Fire crossfade GMHS videos and it might be the best photographic evidence yet of the moment the YH Fire was actually entering the deadly box canyon that the GMHS were hiking down into, just a few minutes before all the GMHS would be burned over.
Figure 16a. ( https://youtu.be/bolQm3uYx2E ) IMG-2736-and-MVI-0888 This video is a 'comparison between MacKenzie cellphone photo IMG_2736.JPG, taken at 3:51.58 PM and a still frame from +6 seconds into MacKenzie's first Canon Powershot video MVI_0888.MOV shot at the same location as the cellphone photo. Source: GMHS MacKenzie (RiP), YouTube, WTKTT
As the images 'fade in/out' ... it is clear that the MVI_0888.MOV video was shot AFTER the IMG_2736.JPG ( 3:51.58 PM ) cellphone photo. There is a significant 'forward push' of the smoke cloud in a due SOUTH direction into the 'middle bowl' which is not seen in the cellphone photo. So this is the 'other half' to the proof that BOTH of MacKenzie's 9 second long videos had to have been shot sometime between MacKenzie cellphone photos IMG_2736 ( taken at 3:51.58 PM ) and IMG_2737 ( taken at 3:55.20 PM ).
See the 'other' video in this account folder that does the same kind of comparison between this same +6 second 0888 movie still frame and MacKenzie cellphone image IMG_2738.
Figure 16b. The 'other' video ( https://youtu.be/-MC2RQwroQo ) This is a 'video fade' between the two following images. The MacKenzie 3:55.31 PM IMG_2738.JPG cell photo (and) a still frame at +6 seconds into the MacKenzie MVI_0888.MOV video. Source: GMHS MacKenzie (RiP), YouTube, WTKTT
The IMG_2738.JPG photo had to be 'rotated' a few degrees clockwise in order to match the terrain as the photos fade in/out.
If you look at the CENTER of the video as these images fade in and out of each other you will see that there is MUCH more SMOKE in the 3:55.31 PM cell phone photo than can be seen in the 0888 video, AND the smoke has traveled much farther SOUTH in the cell phone photo than is seen in the video still frame.
This pretty much PROVES that the first MacKenzie 0888 video had to have been shot BEFORE the 3:55.31 PM cellphone IMG_2738 photo. See another video in the same account folder as this video that then compares MacKenzie's earlier IMG_2736 cellphone photo with this same moment from the 0888 video. That other video also proves that the 0888 video had to have been shot AFTER MacKenzie's 2736 photo.
This means that BOTH MacKenzie Canon Powershot videos were shot somewhere in a 3 minute and 22 second time 'window' BETWEEN cellphone images IMG_2736 ( taken at 3:51.58 PM ) and IMG_2737 (taken at 3:55.20 PM )
NOTE: In THIS video you can clearly see that the smoke column ( and the fireline ) was still in the process of 'rotating around' to the SOUTH at this point in time and ( as we now know ) would continue to do so for the next 30 to 40 minutes. In that crossfade the reason the annotated still frame for Mackenzie's MVI-0888.MOV video clip just says "Mackenzie Video 0888 @ +6 sec" is because those of us working on the actual time offset for Mackenzie's CANON Powershot camera still weren't sure what the EXACT time offset was ( yet ). That 'crossfade' was done as part of that process to simply PROVE that despite what the SAIT idiots thought. (emphasis added)
Mackenzie's video could NOT have been shot AFTER his iPhone image IMG-2738.The smoke ADVANCES ( to the south and east ) between that video stillframe and Mackenzie's iPhone image IMG-2738. It was shortly after these 'crossfades' were done that [IM] Calvin, Marti, myself ( and others ) finally nailed down the actual time offset for Mackenzie's CANON Powershot camera to 8 minutes and13 seconds AHEAD of the 'real' time on June 30, 2013.
The original ( embedded ) CANON Powershot timestamp in Mackezie's MVI-0888.MOV movie clip was 1601:31
( 4:01:31 PM ). Subtracting 8 minutes and 13 seconds gives 15:53:18 ( 3:53:18 PM ). So, the actual START of Mackenzie's MVI-0888.MOV video clip was 15:53:18 ( 3:53:18 PM ) Plus 6 seconds ( the still frame used in the crossfade ) gives 15:53:24 ( 3:53:24 PM ) So, since Mackenzie's iPhone image IMG-2738.JPG was taken at 3:55:31 PM,and the +6 second still frame from his MVI-0888.MOV video has a real time of 3:53:24 PM, you are looking at an actual time separation of 2 minutes and 7 seconds in that CROSSFADE video.
Figure 16c. ( https://youtu.be/KCB1mcS22Ys ) This YouTube crossfade video from Christopher MacKenzie's iPhone 4S image IMG-2738.JPG, taken at (1555:31) 3:55:31 PM on Sunday, June 30, 2013 at the Yarnell HillFire, into the equivalent Google Earth terrain view. The YELLOW line represents the right-side edge of the image. Source: Google Earth, You Tube, and WTKTT
IMG-2738-and-MVI-0888
Figure 16d. ( https://youtu.be/B9emH4nYzs ) This YouTube video clip FADES between the Wade Parker texted photo and a still frame from +6 seconds into the Robert Caldwell video. Source: GMHS Caldwell (RiP), You Tube, WTKTT
Notice the FLAMES on the left hand side of the video as it fades between the two photos. The FLAMES ADVANCE in the Caldwell video photo and would appear to prove that the Wade Parker photo was shot before Robert Caldwell shot his video.
Figure 16e. ( https://youtu.be/fmz6HpmzXEs ) ABC News chopper 'Air15' YouTube video clip 01. This is the first clip of the 'Air 15' raw footage posted to YouTube. It was taken from the SOUTH side of the Yarnell area looking NORTH at the fireline circa 4:00 PM and coincides with the MacKenzie photos and video. The north side of the box canyon can be seen at the start of the video in the lower left corner of the video frame, before it ZOOMS into the fireline. The EAST side of the fireline has already reached the WEST end of the 'Harper Canyon' area. Source: Google Earth, YouTube, and WTKTT
Figure 16f. ( https://youtu.be/0Cj3ErMUl4c ) This is YouTube video clip 04 from the ABC15 'Air 15' Helicopter footage. It crossfades into the equivalent Google Earth ground location and then 'pans back' to show that this is a video clip of the fire encroaching on the west end of Harper Canyon circa 4:00 PM. Source: Google Earth, ABC15, YouTube, WTKTT
Figure 17. PDF JPEG images of numerous consecutive photos from numerous Anonymous-By-Request sources in time sequence from 1348 to 1624 indicating (1348) dozer working the "two track road ... an old fuel break ... in the Sesame Street and Shrine area; (1437) the Peeples valley FD Water Tender (WT) and a Central Yavapai FD Engine with the BRHS in the trees behind the WT; (1555) aggressive fire behavior taken from the radio tower East of Yarnell; (1604) separate and distinct smoke columns (plumes); (1608) increasing fire behavior embedded within the smoke column (plume) in the Glen Ilah Lakewood and Fountain Hills Drive area; (1624) separate and distinct smoke columns (plumes) indicating increasing fire behavior in the Sesame Street and Shrine Corridor area and spur roads taken from above Pat Bernard's place. Source: Peeples Valley FD; Anonymous-By-Request contributors; Yarnell FD FF Chuck Kristensen, and Sun City West FD.
Yes, of course, I have had some private sector wildland fire experience and now the basic wildland firefighter (S-130 & 190) training now, and other than my June 28-30, 2013, weekend on the Weaver Mountains and the YH Fire, lacking any actual bona fide on-the-ground fire experience, I have to rely on what experienced WFs and FFs share with me. From the perspectives of many WFs and FFs trained and experienced in wildland firefighting, these separate and distinct smoke columns (plumes) that follow below definitely indicate some type of a firing operation is occurring; whereby the fire is intentionally ignited using a variety of pyrotechnic firing devices, (i.e. drip torches, fusees, and the like). Several WFs and FFs involved in the firing operation(s), have told me that "18 minutes before" the GMHS died is when at least one of the firing operation(s) took place in the Sesame Street and Shrine Corridor area.
During the March 2019 AZ Wildfire and Incident Management Academy, the June 30, 2013, Lewis Dept. of Corrections (DOC) Crew Boss Jake Guadiana, who was working on the YH Fire and commented: "we watched those [smoke] columns all through the day." Guadiana was performing as a Group Supervisor for the M-410, Facilitative Instructor course, and told that to one of our contributing authors while discussing the YH Fire firing operation.
In other words, it is fairly safe to say that these several recurring, separate and distinct smoke columns (plumes) visible in photo after photo, are and were NOT the result of spot fires from flying embers as some so desperately and obstinately want to believe. So then, were they instead the result of intentional firing operation(s)? Based on the totality of the photographic evidence and suppport from experienced WFs, I feel that there is support for that conclusion.
Figure 18. PDF JPEG two images of the same June 30, 2013, 1544 (3:44 PM) photo, from the Anonymous-By-Request, AZ State Forestry (ASF), and SAIT (left) and the one with inset (right) comments about being in GMHS Parker's (RiP) folder from a Public Records Request by Collura. The SAIT was unsure if GMHS or ASF Inmate Crew Carriers parked in a clearing in the Sesame Street area with very active fire behavior clearly visible in the background. This photo was never utilized or included in the SAIT-SAIR. Source: Anonymous-By-Request, AZ State Forestry, SAIT, Collura
These two photo images are the same photo. This photo on the left is from an Anonymous-By-Request homeowner and the one on the right is from a fulfilled Public Records Request by Joy A. Collura; and the right photo was mysteriously buried within the GMHS Wade Parker (RiP) folder. The specific explanatory details in the right margin were added by Collura. The faint, and yet legible, SAIT caption at the bottom of each photo reveals that this was likely a proposed SAIT-SAIR exhibit with the question mark "?" after the word "Figure" with bold emphasis added ("Figure ?"). The SAIT caption notes also that the SAIT was unsure whether they were the GMHS Crew Carriers or two of the many AZ State DOC Crew's Crew Carriers.
Unsurprisingly, neither of the two (identical) revealing photos on the subject of the GMHS Crew Carriers, specifically referred to within the SAIT-SAIR, ever made it into the SAIT-SAIR. Was that mere coincidence? ... Incompetence? ... A mere oversight? Not very likely. Or was it more likely intentional prevarication, fraud, falsification, misrepresentation, and / or malfeasance to fit the foregone conclusion? What do YOU think?
Consider now the five (5) enumerated, quoted, and page-referenced excerpts directly from the SAIT-SAIR referring to the GMHS Crew Carriers (Buggies) on June 30, 2013. (1) "The Granite Mountain IHC parks their crew carriers in a clearing about three-quarters of the way down Sesame Street." (p. 17) (2) "At about 1550, Air Attack tells DIVS A the fire is heading quickly toward Yarnell and ... the Granite Mountain IHC’s crew carriers may be in the path of the fire." (p. 22) (3) "BR Supt drops GM Lookout off at the Granite Mountain IHC Supt truck at about 1555 and then heads around the corner to get some of his crew to help move the Granite Mountain crew carriers." (p. 24) (4) "As BR Supt is en route to pick up drivers to move the Granite Mountain crew carriers, SPGS1 contacts him to ask if they still have the option to burn out from the dozer line. BR Supt tells him no. DIVS A, hearing the transmission, agrees and says he believes th