Investigative MEDIA

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InvestigativeMEDIA stands by story; State Forestry Division apologizes for deputy director’s comments

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InvestigativeMEDIA stands by its July 30 story detailing statements made by State Forestry Division Deputy Director Jerry Payne concerning leadership decisions that appear to have been made in the moments leading up to the deaths of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew.

The state Forestry Division issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon apologizing “for Mr. Payne’s inappropriate expression of opinion as fact and unfounded speculation that prejudges the ultimate conclusion” of an ongoing investigation expected to be completed in mid-September.

Official: Granite Mountain Hotshot leader Eric Marsh violated safety protocols while acting as a “division supervisor”

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By John Dougherty

PHOENIX—Eric Marsh, the superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew, violated wildfire safety protocols when he and 18 of his firefighters were killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, Jerry Payne, the Arizona State Forestry Division deputy director, said Monday.

Marsh, 43, was given wide latitude to make tactical decisions in the field without first seeking permission from a superior because was operating as a “division supervisor” for several crews fighting the fire while remaining in the field with the Granite Mountain Hotshots, Payne said.

A Granite Mountain Hotshot t-shirt is draped over a cactus. The shelter deployment site is behind. The crew descended into the box canyon from the saddle on the ridge.

A Granite Mountain Hotshot t-shirt is draped over a cactus. The shelter deployment site is behind. The crew descended into the box canyon from the saddle on the ridge.

“He (Marsh) was the boss. He was the assigned division supervisor,” Payne said.

Payne said that once Marsh became a division supervisor, he delegated command of the hot shot crew to his captain, Jesse Steed. But Marsh remained with the crew, Payne said. [Read more…]

Granite Mountain Hotshot co-founder Darrell Willis describes 19-member crew’s last stand on Yarnell Hill

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A Granite Mountain Hotshot t-shirt is draped over a cactus. The shelter deployment site is behind. The crew descended into the box canyon from the saddle on the ridge.

A Granite Mountain Hotshot t-shirt is draped over a cactus. The shelter deployment site is behind. The crew descended into the box canyon from the saddle on the ridge.

By John Dougherty

Yarnell, AZ — Prescott Wildland Division Chief Darrell Willis on Tuesday described what he believes happened on June 30 when the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew made a last ditch stand in a box canyon against a wind tunnel of fire.

He gave his version of the tragic events to “embedded”  reporters, photographers and videographers who were allowed access to the site in an escorted tour led by the Arizona State Forestry Division. The event attracted the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Outside Magazine.

Reporters were asked not to photograph a nearby ranch compound that has the closest undamaged structures to where the Granite Mountain Hotshots died of a combination of burns, smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning just 500 yards away.

American and Arizona flags flapped in the wind from a 20-foot flagpole that marks the firefighters’ shelter deployment site and is visible from State Route 89 cutting through the heart of this played out gold mining town. That’s how close the crew was to safety.

Willis, who helped establish the nation’s only municipal hotshot crew in 2008 with Eric Marsh, the 43-year-old crew superintendent who died in the fire, provided a 15-minute description of what he believed to be the team’s final moments. Willis was not at the location at the time of the burn-over, but said he was working with fire teams to the north.

(The video below is Part I of two videos of Willis’ comments. The second video where Willis’ responds to media questions is posted further down in the story.)

[Read more…]

ADEQ refuses to release secret emails with Governor’s Office about Rosemont mine’s air pollution permit

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By John Dougherty

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is refusing to release more than a dozen emails with the governor’s office concerning the issuance of the air pollution permit for the proposed Rosemont copper mine.

Most of the withheld emails are between Kevin Kinsall, Governor Jan Brewer’s policy advisor for natural resources, and Eric Massey, director of the ADEQ’s Air Quality Division. Kinsall and Massey exchanged a dozen emails between last Aug. 1 and Aug. 8 during a crucial period when the state took control of Rosemont’s air pollution permit from Pima County.

The ADEQ announced last Aug. 3 that it was asserting authority over the review and issuance of Rosemont Copper Company’s application for the pollution permit for its massive open pit copper mine planned for the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson. ADEQ stated it was assuming oversight of the permit to “ensure regulatory certainty and enhanced environmental protection.” [Read more…]