Mayfield: I will never forget Devin, Tom, Karen, Jessica in wake of Thirtymile Fire anniversary
Jul 12, 2024, 6:38 AM
Thirtymile Fire Memorial was constructed at the site where Jessica Johnson, Devin Weaver, Karen FitzPatrick and Tom Craven died in the Chewuch River valley on the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, as a lasting honor to their memory. (Photo: Johnny Valdovinos via USDA Forest Service)
(Photo: Johnny Valdovinos via USDA Forest Service)
This week marks 23 years since a massive wildfire burning north of Winthrop Washington killed four firefighters.
Investigators believed it was an abandoned cooking fire paired with a severe drought and extremely low humidity that erupted into The Thirtymile Fire the week of July 10, 2001.
The conditions were perfect for a firestorm that swept through the Chewuch River Valley. Fourteen firefighters and two campers were trapped by the inferno. Ten of those trapped survived — Tom Craven, Karen Fitzpatrick, Jessica Johnson and Devin Weaver did not.
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I have visited the Chewuch River Valley. I have seen the steep rocky walls of the canyon where the fire literally exploded over the top of the fire shelters deployed by those four wildland firefighters. I have touched the rectangular stones carefully stacked in memorial around the four etched portraits of those brave heroes. It’s a haunting place, but today, it’s a peaceful and beautiful one as well.
It is that peace and beauty on which I reflect today and those four humans whose lives stopped that day.
At the time I was a young reporter only a few years out of college working in Yakima. I was assigned to interview the family of Devin Weaver. At that age and at that point in my career, I had known very little personal loss and even less grief. I had no idea what I was doing when I knocked on the Weaver’s door. To this day I wonder at how gracious they were in the midst of the worst loss of their lives — inviting me in, agreeing to speak on camera and sharing with me a bit about their son and brother.
Before I left their home, I promised them I would never forget Devin. I don’t know why I did it. I was immature. I was stupid. I had no real grasp of what I was promising. And yet, 23 years later, I still remember. I’ve thought of Devin and Tom, Karen and Jessica many times over the years. I’ve thought of who they were and who they could have become. Their names are etched as deeply in my memory as their faces are etched in the stone at that memorial.
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Eight years ago, our own son died and as I began my own journey through the darkness and fog of grief I remembered Devin and his family. I remembered the stupid promise I made to his family and I realized what I had actually done.
I know something deeper now about what Devin’s parents felt that day and have likely felt every day since the day he died.
All I have ever wanted since our son’s death is for him not to be forgotten. It makes my heart swell when others say his name, remember his life or mark his death. Our son Tommy lived and I will do everything in my power until my dying breath to remind the world of that fact.
So this week, I do the same for Devin, Tom, Karen and Jessica. I say their names — Devin Weaver, Tom Craven, Karen Fitzpatrick and Jessica Johnson — aloud and I say firmly: You are remembered. I didn’t know you in life, but I knew of you through those who loved you and I am better for it.
I will never forget you.
Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.
