Local forest supervisor remembers Prescott

GAINESVILLE - While the supervisor of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests says she didn't personally know any of the firefighters who were killed in the wildfire in Prescott, Arizona on Sunday, she is familiar with their work.

That's because Betty Mathews was the supervisor of the Prescott National Forest before she came to North Georgia in April. Mathews said Forest Service firefighters often teamed up with the elite firefighters from the town.

"It's heavily urban interfaced," said Mathews. "The community is right there within the forest boundaries, so we worked in partnership with the city of Prescott."

Mathews said fighting wildfires is not an easy job, and she said the terrain in central Arizona makes the job even more difficult. She said a common misconception is that the land is flat.

"The country where the fire is now...[has] very, very dense brush and it's tinder-dry and very rocky and so footing is difficult, and it's also steep. Some of the mountains in that area are at three- to five-thousand foot elevations," said Mathews.

While Mathews said she has no working knowledge of the current fire, she can remember the Gladiator fire last year that consumed a number of buildings near
the Crown King community.

"We did lose a few structures in that fire...it happened in similar terrain to what's going on in Yarnell."

The focus on the Yarnell fire, of course, is the huge loss of life. Mathews said she was only casually acquainted with members of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots from Prescott.

"The Granite Mountain Hot Shot crew was part of the city of Prescott, and we had a wonderful, strong inter-agency working relationship with the city," said Mathews. "So, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the Granite Mountain Hot Shot crew members that died last Sunday."

And, Mathews pointed out, it's not only the Prescott community that feels the loss, but also the entire network of firefighters across the country mourns.

"Most Hot Shot crews and other fire people work across the country. You know, when the fire bell rings, the community comes together to assist and to help. You meet people from all over the country and you make relationships and you make connections...it's hard, it's really hard when you lose 19 of your own."