Marty Dustin was born in Franklin and lived with his wife Diane in Andover from 1981 to 1995. Marty was a Franklin firefighter and was very involved in the community, serving on the Andover School Board and volunteering with the Andover One Wheelers and as a sports coach, among other roles. Marty and Diane now live in Arizona.
They were a special crew from the Prescott, Arizona Fire Department; 20 members, ages 21 to 34. They were always the first to be called upon to fight the wildfires across the country. There are about 110 hotshot crews across the country.
The Granite Mountain crew was the best of the best! They were a very tight group of brothers, both on duty and off. They did everything together, and they died together.
On Sunday, June 30, 2013, they were called on again. This time it was in Yarnell, Arizona, 35 miles outside of Prescott. It was called the Yarnell Hill Fire. That Sunday morning, they said goodbye to their wives, children, and girlfriends, and said, “See you later.” All but one of the crew never made it back alive.
The lone survivor is a 21-year-old hotshot. He served as the crew’s lookout. He had to leave his post because the fire was on his tail, but kept in touch with his crew to the end.
Within a few minutes, at about 4:45 PM, Mother Nature changed everything. A monsoon came at them, and the winds forced the flame in front and back of the 19 hotshots. They couldn’t get back to their safety point. The heat and flames overtook them, and they all perished together.
Memorial on a Fence
Within a few hours after hearing about the hotshots’ deadly tragedy, the people of Prescott started a memorial to them on the fence around Station #7, which was the living quarters of the crew. People came from all over the state as well as from other states.
After more than a month, they are still coming to place their personal memorials to the fallen crew on the fence.
The fence has got to be close to 100 yards stretched out straight.
After the first week, my wife Diane and I went over to see the memorial. What we saw was unbelievable.
We did not see anything from New Hampshire, so as a former firefighter from Franklin, I wanted to be sure that New Hampshire would be part of the memorial.
I contacted former firefighters and friends from both the Franklin Fire Department and the Andover Fire Department, Retired Captain Richard Davis from Franklin and Chief Rene Lefebvre of Andover. I asked if they, along with their fire departments, would send me t-shirts to place on the memorial. They were very happy and honored to do so.
Diane and I returned to Prescott on July 27 and placed the shirts on the memorial fence.
I want to thank both Dick Davis and Rene Lefebvre and the FFD and AFD for putting part of New Hampshire in the lifetime memorial. If any other departments would like to be part of the memorial, just send me a shirt, and I’ll be sure it gets to the memorial. Send it to 1057 South 12th Street, Cottonwood AZ 86326.
The memorial continues to grow weekly. It’s so unbelievable. It is heartbreaking, overwhelming, and emotional, and those feelings will last for many years. Time will heal.
I ask that you take a minute during the day and say a prayer for the families and all the first responders, especially the only surviving hotshot in Prescott.
Some of these statements have come from newspapers, TV news, and fellow firefighters, and my own observations.