body bags on a patch of charred earth, was published Thursday on a
social-media page devoted to the Granite Mountain Hotshots, the
firefighters who died in the Yarnell Hill Fire on Sunday.
The image appears to show the scene of where the 19 firefighters died,
after an honor guard draped the body bags with flags while preparing
to remove them from the hill the day after the fire.
The image turned up on a Facebook page at midafternoon Thursday with
no comment, no credit and no explanation about its source. Within a
few hours, almost 1,000 people had shared it on their own Facebook
pages.
The picture immediately triggered a debate on the page over the
sensitivity of posting the photo. It drew a claim from at least one
family member that the image was intended to stay private, though it
was unclear who would have made that commitment. It also elicited
outrage from a fire department official.
The bodies of the 19 members of the hotshot crew were removed Monday
and taken to Phoenix to undergo autopsies.
The photo was posted on a page devoted to the team, although under the
"about" section, it is described as "a community, news, and donation
page (that) is not directly related to the Granite Mountain Hotshots
personally."
The page was created Monday and includes a long series of links and
photos of the firefighters, mourning family members, along with
information about donation efforts. The page also includes a link to
the Prescott Fire Department's website and includes the name and
office telephone number of the department's wildland division chief,
Darrell Willis.
Contacted by The Republic late Thursday, Willis said he had no
connection to the page and said he did not post the photo or authorize
its posting.
"This is totally unauthorized. It's totally against anything we
committed to," Willis said
He confirmed the authenticity of the photo but said he was upset that
someone would attach his name to a page with the image.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said he was unaware of the post, but
said, "If it was any of our people who (posted) this, I am sure that
they intended it to be in good taste."
After the firefighters were killed Sunday night, investigators and
other fire workers oversaw the area and gathered evidence. On Monday,
a team of fellow Prescott firefighters went to the scene to recover
the bodies. In interviews with The Republic, members of that team
described a solemn ceremony they performed to honor their colleagues:
When the recovery crew arrived, the fallen crew members had already
been placed in body bags. The recovery crew draped each one with an
American flag. An honor guard stood watch as the team prepared for the
trip to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office.
The Republic chose to republish the photo because it depicts the
respect given to these men who gave their lives to protect others.
Robert Steele, a professor of journalism ethics at DePauw University
in Indiana, said the questions about how the photo came into the
public sphere could detract from a powerful image from the tragedy.
The debate "puts a lot of emphasis on how and why this photo became
public and who made it public rather than the photo itself," he said.
"It takes away from the real meaning of the image itself, the pain and
loss and the community agony that comes with the deaths of these 19
firefighters. It becomes a story about the who and why."
The photo started a lively discussion on the Facebook page, with
arguments for and against posting the image publicly. Many commenters
simply offered condolences or saluted the firefighters. Others
criticized the page owner for posting the photo.
"This picture is very overwhelming," one person wrote. "This is a
picture that should be kept private. This does not show respect for
these heroes or their families. I would hope this picture would be
removed."
But others said they appreciated the photo as a show of respect.
"As a firefighter of more than 25 years, I have witnessed tragedies
such as this," one wrote. "I feel that this picture ... is a
meaningful reminder of the sacrifice that these brave, unselfish souls
gave of themselves, and paid the ultimate price."
Several people said that firefighters' families knew about the photo
earlier and were told that it would remain private. A woman who
identified herself in the comments as a relative of one of the dead
firefighters repeated that claim.
Juliann Ashcraft, whose husband, Andrew, was among the fallen
firefighters, said Thursday that she appreciated all that was done to
honor the bodies. She said she knew they were going to be photographed
as a group, but the photos were to be "exclusive to the family."
She hadn't seen the photo online late Thursday, but when she heard
about it, she said: "It makes me sad. But it doesn't make or break
things in the end."
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