Only the Brave, which arrives in theaters later this year, is based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots—a group of elite firefighters tasked with battling wildfires that could otherwise blaze wildly out of control. The film specifically focuses on the devastating Yarnell Hill wildfire, which blazed through Arizona in June 2013, and the heroism of the men who battled it.
The story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots was previously told in Sean Flynn’s 2013 GQ magazine feature "No Exit."
Yarnell, Arizona (CNN)It's been four years since Arizona's firefighting community lost 19 of its own.
A group of men known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots -- a tight-knit team of experts trained to fight out-of-control wildfires -- died on June 30, 2013 while battling the Yarnell Hill fire, northwest of Phoenix, Arizona.
The men gave their lives to protect Yarnell. The town has honored the Granite Mountain Hotshots with a unique tribute -- a rugged hiking trail that climbs more than 1,000 feet up the side of the mountain where they died that day. Each of the 19 hotshots is memorialized along the way with a plaque.
Friends, family and officials have worked to preserve the now hallowed ground and the memories of these 19 men who were lost:
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
