On June 28, 2013, lightning struck the mountains near Yarnell, AZ, a tiny community about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, igniting a raging wildfire that came to be known as the Yarnell Hill Fire. Ongoing drought conditions and erratic wind patterns caused the wildfire to quickly grow out of control.

Andrew Ashcraft was killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013

The Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite group of local, highly trained firefighters specifically trained to fight wildfires, were deployed to combat the flames. on June 30, however, two days after the wildfire began, 19 of the 20 Granite Mountain Hotshots were overcome and killed by the blaze. This was the largest loss of life for firefighters in a wildfire since 1933, and the greatest loss of firefighters in the United States since 9/11. Andrew Ashcraft, husband and father of four, was one of the members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who was killed.

Andrew's brother, TJ, had just returned from a 12 month deployment in Afghanistan as a crew chief on a medevac crew and had just spent Father's Day with Andrew and their father, just days before Andrew was killed. This past June 30, while deployed to Iraq, TJ and members of his company remembered the 3 year anniversary of Andrew's death.

TJ Ashcraft remembers while in Iraq

I had a chance to hear about the tragedy from TJ's perspective while with him in Iraq, and learned how TJ's faith in God sustained him through that time, and continues to encourage him three years later.