Firefighter Memorial To Be Dedicated

A memorial statue is on its way to the Oregon town that was home to many of the firefighters who died in the 1994 Storm King Mountain blaze near Glenwood Springs, Colo.

The bronze statue, depicting three firefighters gathered around a charred tree, was loaded on a truck Friday in Denver to begin a 1,200-mile trip to Prineville, Ore. The statue will be dedicated there June 15 as the centerpiece of a monument to all wildland firefighters.

“It was definitely a very special, emotional experience for me,” said sculptor David Nelson. The 44-year old man from Marble was chosen from 70 artists from around the country who wanted to create the statue.

“I was overjoyed to be selected but also humbled at the same time,” Nelson said. “The responsibility was pretty overwhelming.”

The statue was commissioned by a committee of parents of Prineville Hotshots fire crew members. Nine of the 14 firefighters who lost their lives at Storm King were Prineville Hotshots. Two Idaho-based smokejumpers, including Jim Thrash of New Meadows, also were killed.

Part of the monument’s $120,000 cost will be paid with $72,000 in donations to an account set up following the deaths on Storm King Mountain, according to Ochoco National Forest spokesman Norm Hesseldahl.

The committee of parents voted to dedicate the money toward the monument. The committee plans to raise additional money by selling gallery-sized replicas of the statue and figurines.