Crime & Safety

Hotshot Chris MacKenzie, 1982-2013: 'Lived His Life to the Fullest'

Hundreds of people came to a public memorial service at Ramona Bowl for former Mill Creek hotshot, Tahquitz crewman and Hemet High School grad Chris MacKenzie, who was killed last week with 18 other firefighters in Arizona.

MacKenzie, who was 30 years old when he died June 30 in the Yarnell Hill Fire northwest of Phoenix, was remembered as an Eagle Scout, an avid outdoorsman who excelled in Bulldog football, and an expert snowboarder known on Big Bear slopes before he became a firefighter.

"Chris was born at Kaiser Hospital in Fontana," Pastor Michael White said during MacKenzie's service, reading from notes he prepared with family and friends of the fallen firefighter. "He was born with eye lashes that women would die for . . . 

"He was taken home to San Bernardino to meet his 17-month-old brother Aaron," White said. "From the very beginning you could tell he was going to be mellow and easy going.

"When he was three, his family moved to Hemet where he attended elementary, middle and high school. . . . He was a big kid, and upon graduation from middle school, he went out for football at Hemet High and played all four years."

MacKenzie developed his passion for snowboarding after high school and moved to Big Bear, where he worked four seasons at Snow Summit, White said.

"His next adventure began when he applied to become a seasonal firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service where he worked on the Tahquitz crew in the San Bernardino National Forest," White said.

MacKenzie then earned his way onto a BLM helitack crew, the Mill Creek Hotshots based at Highway 38 and Bryant at the Mentone-Yucaipa border, and an engine crew at Pinyon Station 30 in Riverside County, White said.

He was eventually invited to apply to Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshots in Prescott. Several people in Granite Mountain shirts attended the service Saturday, including at least one crew survivor.

The Hot Shot's Prayer was read aloud during MacKenzie's service:

When I am called to duty, Lord
To fight the roaring blaze
Please keep me safe and strong
I may be here for days.

Be with my fellow crew members
As we hike up to the top.
Help us cut enough line
For this blaze to stop.

Let my skills and hands
Be firm and quick.
Let me find those safety zones
As we hit and lick

For if this day on the line
I should answer death's call
Lord, bless my hot shot crew
My family, one and all.

June 30 on the Yarnell Hill Fire is believed the deadliest incident for wildland firefighters since the Griffith Park Fire in 1933, when 29 were fatally injured.

"Chris lived his life to the fullest and went places most people only dreamed about," White said. "He loved fighting wildfires and told his brother he saw it as a way to see the most beautiful country in America. He was loved by everyone he met and will forever have a place in their hearts."

Mackenzie is survived by his mother Laurie Goralski, father Micheal MacKenzie, brother Aaron MacKenzie, stepmother Janice MacKenzie, nephew Cobain, niece Vaida, stepsisters Janae Gier and Jill Allison, and a large family of uncles, aunts and cousins.

Another Hemet High grad and member the Granite Mountain Hotshots killed last week in the Yarnell Hill Fire, Billy Warneke, 25, was buried Wednesday July 10 in Marana, Arizona.

At least four other Granite Mountain Hotshots had ties to Southern California.

The remains of Kevin Woyjeck, 21, of Seal Beach, were flown July 10 on the same C-130 that brought MacKenzie's remains to to Los Alamitos.

Other firefighters killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire with SoCal ties include Grant McKee, 21, who grew up in Costa Mesa and attended Newport Harbor High, Sean Misner, 26, of Santa Ynez in Santa Barbara County, and Andrew Ashcraft, 29, who was born in Orange.

To read more about MacKenzie and other Granite Mountain Hotshots, start at this Arizona Republic link: Yarnell Hill Fire Fallen Remembered: Christopher MacKenzie.


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