YARNELL, Ariz. — A fire helmet from the Granite Mountain Hotshots sits just outside a red house on Oak Lane in Yarnell. Beside it is the number 19. Both are a solemn reminder of the lives lost to the Yarnell Hill fire. But the house they adorn is a testament to the town's strength and the long road to recovery.
This house is one of the seven built by firefighter Bob Brandon in the devastating wake of the fire. It swept through the town, destroying 127 buildings and killing 19 firefighters. But it couldn't get rid of Yarnell.
Brandon spent a year directing the rebuilding efforts: A massive project that cost the homeowners nothing. Many of the homes lost to the fire were uninsured, but people from all over Arizona came together to make sure the people who lived there were taken care of.
"I had companies call me up and say 'I've got 144 sheets of plywood. Do you want it?' And I would get somebody with a trailer and we'd run to Prescott and we'd pick up the plywood," Brandon said.
Even the people organizing the rebuilding campaign were awestruck by the generosity.
"I was just dumbstruck," said Frances Lechner, one of the campaign organizers. "Almost immediately some people in the face of a disaster, they wanted to start taking action. So I knew there was going to be a lot to be done, and we started organizing right then and there while we were still evacuated."
Her vision and Brandon's went hand in hand.
"Our vision was a thriving, caring community rising from the ashes."
"Each house was returned to the owner by what the size of their house was on the tax rolls," Brandon explained. "No expense. None whatsoever. Didn't cost them any money at all."
Even if Brandon's work didn't cost money, it cost time. But he was happy to pay that price.
>> Download the 12News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone.
"A whole year," he said. "I missed two weddings, two graduations, and my grandchild's birth because I couldn't leave. I told my wife I can't leave."
"It's got to get done."
A full year of construction, permits, deliveries, and coordination, all poured into reclaiming homes from the ashes. And if you drive through Yarnell now, you'd almost never know a fire came through.
"Just staggering," Lechner said. "In some ways, it feels like it's flown by -- like it was just last week. Especially if I hear news of other fires, and that brings it all back really vividly."
But the people who live here remember what it used to be, and what it could be again.
"In many respects, life goes on. People have moved on with their lives, which is a good thing. But there are reminders here every day."
Reminders like a helmet sitting on the charred remains of a tree -- now a stump in front of a newly made home.
"This will be part of our identity for a long time."
ARIZONA WILDFIRE SEASON
Get the latest information on how to stay safe and protect your home during wildfire season in Arizona.