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Auction Date set, Name Picked For Yarnell Hill Fire Memorial

David Wallace
/
The Arizona Republic

The state Land Department will auction the site where 19 firefighters died two years ago on the June 30 anniversary of their deaths.

The state Parks Department is hoping to be the winning bidder for the 320-acre site outside the small community of Yarnell.

Parks Director Sue Black said Thursday the site will become a memorial to 19 Prescott-based Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished battling a wildfire that was threatening Yarnell.

The Legislature appropriated $500,000 to buy the site last year.

The state parks board formally named the "Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park" on Wednesday. Several committees are working on designs and other planning.

The land department has appraised the land at $304,000, and Black says state parks can't pay more than the fair market value of the property.

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