Arizona firefighter killed with crew grew up in Orange County

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Firefighters from Riverside County pay their respects as a casket containing the remains of Christopher MacKenzie arrives in Hemet. MacKenzie, who was from Hemet, was one of 19 firefighters killed last week battling the Yarnell Hill wildfire in Arizona. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A girl looks at photos of fallen firefighters Christopher MacKenzie, left, and Kevin Woyjeck in Hemet. MacKenzie was from Hemet and Woyjeck grew up in Seal Beach. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A procession carrying the remains of Christopher MacKenzie travels down Florida Avenue in Hemet. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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People in Hemet pay their respects to Christopher MacKenzie. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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An honor guard from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection carries the coffin of Christopher MacKenzie after its arrival in Los Alamitos. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A hearse carries the remains of Christopher MacKenzie in Los Alamitos. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Flags and mourners greet a hearse carrying the remains of fallen firefighter Kevin Woyjeck at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos. Fellow firefighter Christopher MacKenzie’s remains were returned on the same flight. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Family members and friends mourn Christopher MacKenzie. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Loved ones of Kevin Woyjek gather as his casket arrives in Los Alamitos. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Brendan McDonough, right, the sole surviving member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew, hugs Darrell Willis, division chief of the Prescott Fire Department, during the memorial service. (David Wallace / Associated Press)

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Hearses carrying the bodies of 19 firefighters killed last week arrive in Prescott, Ariz., on Sunday during a procession that started in Phoenix. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters honor the procession as its arrives in Prescott. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Onlookers in Prescott. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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People in Prescott pay their respects as the procession travels through town. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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From left, Bentlee, Hemie, Kaysia and Ryan Sidwell release balloons for the 19 fallen firefighters. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Randy Hartt breaks down at a memorial in Prescott for the 19 firefighters. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Two women console each other at the memorial in Prescott. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A water-dropping helicopter takes off in the Peeples Valley area, about five miles from Yarnell, where the 19 firefighters died. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Law enforcement members salute the fire vehicles left behind by the 19 members of the Granite Mountain hotshots. Two crew vans and a utility vehicle used by the firefighters were escorted back to Prescott. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Fire crews continue the mop-up operation in the Peeples Valley area. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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The ruins of a Peeples Valley home. Firefighters were aided Wednesday by rain and lower winds, and they were able to partially contain the Arizona blaze. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of people attend a vigil in the Prescott High School stadium for the 19 firefighters killed Sunday in Arizona. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A man holds a sign at the community vigil at Prescott High School. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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There were hugs and tears between members of the immediate families during the vigil for the firefighters. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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People pay their respects during the vigil at Prescott High School. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Harry Warneke (back to camera) is comforted by a well-wisher as he visits the Prescott, Ariz., public memorial where his son, William Warneke, and 18 other firefighters were remembered. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighter Kevin Wyjeck is remembered with pictures on the fence surrounding Fire Station 7 in Prescott. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the public have honored the fallen firefighters by decorating a fence surrounding the crew’s headquarters. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Nineteen crosses lean against the fence surrounding Fire Station 7. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple embrace as they look at the memorial fence. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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The firefighters were killed Sunday when flames tearing through the town of Yarnell, Ariz., overtook them. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew mourn their fallen comrades during a memorial service in Prescott, Ariz. Nineteen members of the hotshot crew were killed battling the Arizona wildfire. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew at the memorial service. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of people turned out for the memorial service. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Claire Caldwell is comforted by her father, Steve Groom. Caldwell’s husband, Robert Caldwell, was one of the 19 firefighters killed. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Louan Heysck of Prescott salutes during the memorial service. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A wildfire burns homes in Yarnell, Ariz., on Sunday. (David Kadlubowski / Associated Press)

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Tanker 910 makes a retardant drop on the Yarnell Hill fire to help protect the Double Bar A Ranch near Peeples Valley, Ariz. (Tom Story / Associated Press)

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Dean Smith watches as the Yarnell Hill fire encroaches on his home in Glenn Ilah near Yarnell, Ariz. (David Kadlubowski / Associated Press)

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This undated picture shows the Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshot crew of Prescott, Ariz. Nineteen firefighters were killed Sunday battling a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona, in one of the worst incidents of its kind in U.S. history, as flames ravaged homes and forced the evacuation of two towns. The firefighters died while racing to contain the Yarnell Hill wildfire about 85 miles north of Phoenix, in what Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer called “as dark a day as I can remember.” ( AFP/Getty Images)

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In a 2012 photo, the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew clears a fire line through the forest. On Sunday, 19 members of the Prescott, Ariz.-based crew were killed. The firefighters were forced to deploy their emergency fire shelters - tent-like structures meant to shield firefighters from flames and heat - when they were caught near the central Arizona town of Yarnell, according to a state forestry spokesman. (Connor Radnovich / Associated Press)

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Homes burn as the Yarnell Hill fire burns in Glenn Ilah near Yarnell, Ariz. The fire started Friday and picked up momentum as the area experienced high temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. (David Kadlubowski / Associated Press)

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This still image from video provided courtesy of KPHO-TV / CBS-5-AZ.COM shows smoke rising from raging wildfires in the hills near Yarnell, Ariz. (AFP/Getty Images)

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This still image from video provided courtesy of KPHO-TV / CBS-5-AZ.COM shows fires raging in the hills near Yarnell, Ariz. (AFP/Getty Images)

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Aerial view of the Yarnell Hill fire, near the town of Yarnell, Ariz. (AFP/Getty Images)

By Samantha Schaefer

July 2, 2013 2:56 PM PT

Grant McKee was 6 years old when his mother dressed him up as a firefighter, dirty and smudged from battling a blaze. Ever since that night, he knew what he wanted to do.

McKee, 21, was one of 19 firefighters with the Granite Mountain hotshots who were killed when wind-driven flames overtook the crew as it battled to save the small former gold-mining town of Yarnell, Ariz. His cousin, Robert Caldwell, 23, also died in the blaze.

The tragedy was especially felt in California, where five of the dead firefighters grew up. McKee, 21, Kevin Woyjeck, 21, of Seal Beach, Sean Misner, 26, of the Santa Ynez Valley, and Hemet natives William “Billy” Warneke, 25, and Chris MacKenzie, 30, perished with members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew.

An only child, McKee grew up in Costa Mesa and attended Newport Harbor High School. His senior year, he moved to Arizona to live with his aunt, who also lost her son, said his mother, Marcia McKee.

He wanted to spend the rest of his life with girlfriend, Leah, Marcia McKee said. Caldwell, also a firefighter, inspired him, she said, and they became close once he moved. This was McKee’s first season as a member of the hotshot crew.

“He was just talking to me, telling me how safe it is, that it was going to be OK. And then this had to happen,” she said through tears.

Weeks before he began his new job, McKee visited his mother in Costa Mesa. He told her he wanted to take her to Tahiti to thank her for all she did for him, a realization that hit him as he became an adult, she said. He sent her a letter to tell her how much he loved her.

“Mom, I don’t believe I would be where I am today if it was not for you. You gave me all you could and would put your life on the line for me,” Marcia McKee read from her son’s note. “We’re best friends and that will never change,” she continued.

McKee was athletic, and wrestled throughout high school. He was loved by everyone, his mother said, and wanted to help people more than anything.

His senior year, he made the decision to move to Arizona. He needed a change, and realized the party scene in Newport wasn’t helping him get anywhere, his mother said.

“It was a wise choice for him to be so young and realize [that],” she said. “I was amazed, I don’t know if I would have been able to do that at that age.“

After he moved, his mother would often drive out to visit him and when he came out to California, they would do everything together, she said. She was always close with her son, sometimes driving a car full of friends to the bowling alley, and later regularly texting with him to keep in touch.

“He just wanted to be with me. And I’ll never get to see him again. He was my baby. He was my life,” she said.

Flags across Los Angeles County and elsewhere were at half-staff to honor the 19 fallen men as tributes poured in.

The Yarnell Hill Fire, apparently sparked by lightning Friday and still out of control late Monday, had spread to more than 8,400 acres and destroyed an estimated 200 buildings around the tiny mountain town of Yarnell, where residents have fled to shelters. About 280 firefighters from across the West were struggling to contain it.

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Twitter: @Sam_Schaefer

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