Fallen Idyllwild-based firefighter returns home to San Bernardino County
August 8, 2017 by admin
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Fallen U.S. Forest Service firefighter Brent Michael Witham made his final journey home to San Bernardino County on Monday from Montana, where he was killed last week in the line of duty.
The solemn rites of firefighter mourning were on display the whole way, and will continue this week as an honor guard keeps watch over Witham’s body until his interment Thursday following a public memorial service at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino.
An orange-and-white Forest Service airplane, normally used to transport firefighters who parachute into remote areas, touched down at San Bernardino International Airport at 3:36 p.m., carrying Witham’s casket that was covered by an American flag.
The plane taxied to a tarmac where Witham’s colleagues, the Idyllwild-based Vista Grande Hotshots, waited for the 29-year-old Mentone resident as they stood at attention and held their caps over their hearts.
Witham also was greeted by mourners who had never met him. Among them, 7-year-old Xanti Marquez and her mother, Carmen, held American flags where spectators had gathered at the airtanker base on the airport grounds.
Carmen, of Temecula, wore a Forest Service Smokejumpers shirt and Xanti wore a tank top that said Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service. Carmen’s brother was a smokejumper and a hotshot.
Carmen said she wanted to represent those who couldn’t make it to the solemn ceremony.
“We felt compelled to come out to honor and show respect and condolences to the firefighters, families and Brent,” she said.
As the plane rolled near, Witham’s family and friends were escorted toward it and an honor guard approached. The back of the airplane opened, the honor guard transferred the casket to a hearse, and uniformed personnel saluted.
The hearse drove under a flag between two fire trucks before leaving the airport. A procession of firefighters and law enforcement officers then escorted it to a mortuary Colton.
The route was designed to pass by the San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor’s Office on Tippecanoe Avenue. A long row of U.S. Forest Service engines staged along the road Monday afternoon to pay their respects.
Phil Hernandez, captain with the Arroyo Grande Hotshot crew in the Los Padres National Forest, was among those saluting Witham.
“It’s real important to show support today because we’re basically the same; we just have a different name,” Hernandez said. “The hotshot community is tight.”
Other mourners also lined the roads, some waving flags as the procession passed by.
Hotshots are elite 20-person firefighting crews that battle flames by hand after hiking or being dropped into remote areas.
Witham, a graduate of Redlands East Valley High School, was killed Aug. 2 when a tree fell on him as his crew was battling a forest fire in the Lolo National Forest southwest of Missoula, Montana.
Witham’s family members released a statement last week that said they were comforted knowing how many lives Witham had touched. They have asked for privacy.
The honors for Witham began Monday morning when a procession led by Montana Highway Patrol cars delivered his casket to the Missoula Aerial Fire Depot, the Missoulian newspaper reported. Some 500 people watched and bagpipers played “Amazing Grace” as Witham’s casket was loaded onto a Forest Service plane.
Memorial service, condolences
Memorial service: 10 a.m. Thursday (doors open at 9 a.m.) in the Orange Pavilion at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino. Open to the public.
Condolences: Email withammemorialinfo@gmail.com with “CONDOLENCES” in the subject line, or send mail to the San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 602 S. Tippecanoe Ave., San Bernardino, CA 92408. Emails and letters will be passed along to the family. The supervisor’s office also will have two large condolence “cards” available for signing from noon Tuesday, Aug. 8, through Wednesday, Aug. 9.
Donations: The Forest Service will be setting up a Brent Witham Memorial Fund.
More information: The Forest Service has established a blog at www.withammemorialceremony.blogspot.com
