State workplace safety regulators blamed the largest loss of wildland firefighters since 1933 on the state Forestry Division, saying they knowingly put protection of property ahead of safety and should have pulled crews out earlier.
All but one member of the crew died. The ADOSH investigation found that state fire officials lacked key personnel to battle the Yarnell Hill Fire at critical times. An earlier investigation commissioned by the Forestry Division, which found that state fire officials communicated poorly but followed proper procedures.
The Forestry Division contested the fines, saying they were “not supported by substantial evidence.” The state didn’t admit wrongdoing in reaching the settlement.
Brnovich said the state had an obligation to settle the lawsuit and to work to prevent future tragedies.
“As a state, we don’t measure success in wins and losses,” he said. “We measure our success in whether justice has been done by the victims.”
The settlement came a day before the second anniversary of the deaths of the Prescott, Arizona-based firefighting crew. The land where the crew lost their lives will be auctioned off Tuesday and the state Parks Department hopes to be the winning bidder and turn the 320-acre site outside Yarnell into a memorial park.
Late Tuesday afternoon, a formal event is planned at the Yavapai County courthouse in Prescott to commemorate the anniversary.
Andrew Ashcraft’s mother, Deborah Pfingston, said the settlement and the Forestry Division’s commitment of a slew of changes is a good start.
“It will never end in my mind or my heart, but it is a start that we will get the change. After two years we feel we are confident with the truth,” Pfingston said. “We fully believe that the changes that the forester will do in incident command will save others’ lives.”