Eric Marsh
Eric Shane Marsh (born September 29, 1969 in Wilkesboro , North Carolina , † June 30, 2013 in Yarnell , Arizona ) was an American firefighter and commander of the Interagency Hotshot Crew "Granite Mountain" from Prescott , Arizona. In 2013, he died with 18 of his men in the Yarnell Hill Fire when they were run over by a roller of fire on the first day of the fire fighting.
Life
Eric Marsh grew up in North Carolina where he attended Ashe Central High School and studied biology at Appalachian State University . He also started working as a firefighter and during the summer fire seasons he traveled to Arizona, where he worked for the Globe Hotshots for several years .
In 2003 he moved to Prescott and founded the Arizona Wildfire and Incident Management Academy that same year. He was also involved in setting up the Granite Mountain Hotshots there, which were certified in 2008 as a nationwide Interagency Hotshot Crew. Marsh was the oldest member and in command of the 20-man force.
During the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, he was also a supervisor of Division Alpha, a section of several fire fighting teams at Yarnell. The further exact course of events could only be roughly reconstructed. Marsh and 18 of his men were moving through the unburned terrain of a U-shaped canyon and were caught by the flames after a wind direction change. Escape was impossible due to the speed of the fire roller and the men withdrew to their fire shelters , where they did not survive due to the enormous heat. The firefighter death site and the surrounding area were designated Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park on November 30, 2016.
The event was filmed and was released in 2017 under the title No Way Out - Against the Flames (original title Only the Brave ) in US cinemas. Eric Marsh is portrayed by Josh Brolin .
In addition, the Eric Marsh Foundation for Wildland Firefighters was founded, which works for the survivors of killed firefighters and colleagues with PTSD .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Only the Brave (2017)
- ↑ One of 19 firefighters killed in Arizona wildfire grew up in Ashe County
- ↑ Wildfire academy passes on hotshot Eric Marsh's legacy
- ^ Yarnell Hill. Accessed December 11, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Eric Marsh Foundation for Wildland Firefighters
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Marsh, Eric |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Marsh, Eric Shane |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American firefighter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 29th September 1969 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wilkesboro, North Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | 30th of June 2013 |
| Place of death | Yarnell, Arizona |