Firefighter Running 380 Miles in Full Gear in Desert Heat To Honor Fallen Firefighter
Five years ago a massive fire tore through the town of Yarnell, Arizona. The fire, known as the Yarnell Hill Fire, claimed the lives of 19 brave wildland firefighters on June 30, 2013.
To honor those lives that were taken too soon Joe Zambrano, a California firefighter, has run 380 miles in the desert heat from Bellflower, California, to the exact place where the 19 men died.
Zambrano is no stranger to running long distances; he has run 82 marathons and a few 100-mile races. He’s even run multiple races in memory of fallen firefighters in the past.
The first race that he ran in full firefighter gear was in 2013 for first responders who died in the line of duty in Houston, Texas.
Just a year later he reached out to Joe Woyjeck, the father of Kevin Woyjeck who died in the Yarnell Hill Fire, to ask if he could run the Los Angeles Marathon in memory of his son.
As Zambrano reached the finish line, he saw Woyjeck standing there, cheering him on. “It was so emotional,” he remembered.
Woyjeck and Zambrano paired up again for this much longer run to raise money for the Kevin Woyjeck Explorers for Life Association, a nonprofit that helps provide support for young men and women in the Fire Explorer Program.
“I promised Kevin’s father and mother, Joe and Ana, that I will carry his son’s legacy and his crew. They were sons they were brothers they were fathers they were friends. And I just want to remember them and want to keep their legacy alive,” Zambrano said.
He didn’t run alone, however. He was accompanied by a caravan of people in fire trucks and RVs who ensured his safety and provided support as needed.
Teams of firefighters from various stations also escorted him along his route so that he wouldn’t be alone.
He arrived in Yarnell on the evening of June 29, 2018, and is hiking the seven miles up to the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial state park on the anniversary of the tragic day.
This is such a amazing way to honor those who died five years ago! If you’d like to donate to the Kevin Woyjeck’s Explorers for Life Association, go to their website to see how you can contribute.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the 19 fallen men as they remember and grieve.
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