Brendan McDonough tracked the fast-changing elements of the Yarnell
Hill Fire late Sunday: the weather, the landscape, the movement of the
flames and smoke. Finally, officials would later say, he made a
decision.
Weather conditions were changing. The wind was pushing the fire in
another direction. McDonough had reached a preset trigger based on
those conditions, and he needed to move. He radioed the news to his
crew, the 19 other members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who were
fighting the fire farther down the hill.
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As he hiked out of the area, he spoke by radio to another crew,
according to a Prescott Fire Department spokesman who recounted the
events.
When he turned back, he realized the fire had engulfed the lookout
point he'd just left. He never heard back from his crew mates, who
died when the shifting flames swept across their fire line.
The identity of McDonough, the much-discussed 20th member of the
hotshot crew, emerged Tuesday through social media, reporters'
inquiries and, finally, an official announcement.
Then just as quickly, the 21-year-old firefighter pleaded for privacy,
a message relayed by authorities who asked the media and the public to
give McDonough time to deal with what happened.
"He is very distraught, as you might think," said Wade Ward, a Fire
Department spokesman. "He is very emotional. He's got all the
questions, the why and the why not. He's concerned for the families
mostly. I can tell you Brendan has no desire to speak to anybody at
this point."
At a community meeting Tuesday, Ward acknowledged the intense interest
in McDonough, whose existence was revealed in some of the earliest
reports about the deaths of the firefighters.
There were questions about his role in the crew and why he wasn't with
the other members when fire struck.
On Tuesday, officials explained his duties and said that they wanted
people to understand that McDonough followed procedures and prepared
to move to a new location in advance of his crew, as his assignment
required.
"He did his job," Ward said.
McDonough appeared briefly Tuesday night at an emotional vigil in
Prescott, surrounded by firefighters as the crowd cheered. But he has
given no interviews and, on his Facebook page, he asked friends and
family not to speak with the news media if they were approached.
But a sketchy portrait of McDonough came together through social
media, public records and statements by fire department officials.
On his Facebook page, McDonough said he had lived previously in
Oceanside, Calif., a beach city between San Diego and Orange County.
As a teenager, he moved to Prescott and attended Prescott High School,
where he was involved with the Air Force Junior ROTC. He graduated in
2009 and later enrolled at Yavapai College, where he studied fire
science.
He joined the Granite Mountain Hotshots in 2011, "my dream job," he
wrote in an April 2011 Facebook post, "full of excitement and an
adrenaline rush I can't explain. (I) work with the best people I
could."
Just weeks earlier, he had become a father. In March 2011, the
Prescott Daily Courier published a baby announcement that said
McDonough and Natalie Nesvig, also of Prescott, had welcomed a baby
girl, Michaela Rose McDonough. Nesvig had posted photos of herself and
McDonough together in various settings, including in two of her online
profile pictures.
McDonough was in his third season with the hotshots when the Yarnell
Hill Fire erupted last week. On Sunday afternoon, he was working as a
lookout.
Fire experts say the lookout is critical for firefighters, who need a
set of eyes focused on the weather and the movement of the flames.
Ward said McDonough's job Sunday was to watch the situation and decide
when the various elements reached the "trigger points" that would
signal a change in position.
When McDonough determined he needed to move, he radioed the supervisor
of his hotshot crew. Officials said he radioed that the weather was
changing and that the fire was shifting in a new direction. He told
his crew members that if they needed anything to contact him. Then, he
left with the superintendent of another hotshot crew.
Bob Orrill, a member of the Southwest Incident Command team, met with
McDonough early Tuesday and brought a message to the community
meeting.
"Brendan would like to express his appreciation and that of his fallen
brothers for the outpouring of support towards this organization and
the firefighting community in general," Orrill said.
An emotional crowd at the community meeting applauded and cheered as
Ward and Orrill relayed McDonough's story.
Some of the loudest cheers came as Ward asked the news media to
respect McDonough's privacy.
On social-media sites, McDonough's family and friends offered support.
His father, Scott McDonough, who is in Boston, posted a picture of his
son in firefighting gear and said: "Good work in Arizona, son. Proud
and glad you're safe!"
In Prescott, Juliann Ashcraft, wife of Andrew Ashcraft, one of the
fallen firefighters, talked about McDonough on Tuesday.
"I hope that he knows we love him," she said.
Contributing: Arizona Republic reporters Ken Alltucker, Saba Hamedy,
Scott Craven, Rebekah L. Sanders, and KPNX-TV reporter Lissette
Martinez.
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