Our teammate Gabriel OKeefe writes why he joined 19+One and why he is running. It is an honor to have him on our team. Thank you for sharing Gabriel. June 30th… I came home from work exhausted that evening. We had worked a late shift on a local fire the night before, stayed overnight and finished the fire that day. I got cleaned up, enjoyed some dinner with my family and sat down to watch a movie and continue relaxing. Shortly after I received a text I’ll never forget, it read, “Gabe I’m so so sorry for your loss”. I read it over and over, confused and terrified. Then all at once I received text after text of similar messages, all from friends that work in fire. I knew something big had happened, but just sat there in shock, too scared to respond or do anything else. A part of me thought for a second that if I didn’t know, then maybe it wouldn’t be real, but deep down I knew that wouldn’t change anything. My wife had gone to put our daughter to bed, so I stopped the movie and turned on the news. That’s when I found out that 19 of the Granite Mountain Hotshots had been burned over and confirmed dead. My heart sank and I felt a sadness I had never felt before, and hope to never feel again in this life. Although names had not been released of those who passed or the survivor, I knew some of the guys from the crew and statistically they did not all make it. Memories flashed through my head as uncontrollable hot tears ran down my face. I watched until the news was done then started returning texts and missed calls. My wife was still in the room with our daughter and had no idea of what had happened. I told her and immediately broke down in her arms until I had nothing left and fell asleep. That night was rough, but not as rough as the following day. I returned to work that morning with the rest of the Flagstaff Hotshots, I remember it being the most difficult and emotional commute to work ever. Work was quite that morning as the usually energy bursting crew completed their routine in silence. Everyone’s heart was heavy and mournful. As the crew was gathered for the morning briefing we discussed the events that had happened and the information that was known thus far. We were informed that it was a challenging situation to deal with, but we shouldn’t feel ashamed to take time off if it was needed. Of course none of us did, each for their own reason. As for myself, I wouldn’t feel right taking the time off when there was still a job to do. The biggest piece of information was that there was a chance we would be sent to the Yarnell Hill fire that morning. A few hours later, we had the order in hand and were on our way. July 1st – July 4th marked the most difficult fire I’ve ever been on, not physically as most fires are rated, but emotionally.- I worked on the Prescott NF from 2005-2011 and became good friends with a lot of the other employees, some of which eventually left the Prescott NF to work for the Granite Mt Hotshots. During the couple years I worked on the Prescott Hotshots, we often trained with Granite Mt and worked closely with them on fires. Travis (Turby) Turbyfill was a first year firefighter on the same engine as me my first year on the Prescott. We worked side by side that entire summer spending the majority of our time together, good times and bad. Jesse Steed was already a local legend when I started on the Prescott. Although we never worked on the same crew at the same time, I am glad to have had the opportunity to work with him, laugh with him, and call him my friend till the end. Clayton Whitted was one of the nicest people I have ever met, a truly kind heart. Clay and I had a less close friendship, but never missed an opportunity to say hi and catch up when we saw each other. Clay even let me crash at his rental house for part of a summer while I looked for a new place to live. I wish I had been a better friend with these three guys, but each still holds a part in my memory and my heart as part of the brotherhood of friends, firefighters and as Hotshots. Last year I ran the Rock ‘N’ Roll Full Marathon and stress fractured my tibia around mile 24. I finished under 4 hrs, but still felt defeated as I was on crutches for the next 6 weeks. After that I was hesitant about ever attempting another marathon for fear of another injury, but after the events of June 30th 2013 my outlook on life has changed and I needed to run another marathon. I needed to conquer it. Then a friend told me about this group that was forming and I knew I needed to be apart of it and not only run for myself, but for all of the Granite Mt Hotshots and their families. I’m honored to be apart of this team and run for something more than just myself.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 15:51:57 +0000
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