Fallen firefighter Chris MacKenzie remembered at Hemet service
Friends and family members gathered Saturday in Hemet for a memorial service for one of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters killed while battling a wildfire in Arizona.
Chris MacKenzie, 30, had just started his third season with the hotshot team and was a lead crew member when he was killed in the Yarnell Fire on June 30, according to Cal Fire.
The memorial service to celebrate his life and honor his service was held at the Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre.
Some friends who spoke at the memorial asked attendees to follow Mackenzie’s example.
“Chris had a heart. He never gave up, he never gave in,” childhood friend and fellow firefighter Clint Goepp said, the Press-Enterprise reported. “All of us are not going to give up on Chris’ behalf.”
MacKenzie, who grew up in Hemet, started as a seasonal firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service in the San Jacinto National Forest and went on to serve on a helicopter crew for the Bureau of Land Management and the Mill Creek hotshots in the San Bernardino National Forest. A former captain, Aaron Stevens, invited him to apply to join the Arizona hotshot team, according to Cal Fire.
His mother, Lauri Goralski, told the Press Enterprise her son was a determined man who lost 75 pounds his senior year of high school so he could snowboard and become a firefighter. He loved what he did, she said, and was confident even though he knew there was a chance something could happen to him.
MacKenzie is the son of retired Cal Fire Capt. Mike MacKenzie. He is survived by his father, mother, brother Aaron MacKenzie, stepmother Janice MacKenzie, and stepsisters Janae Gier and Jill Allison, according to Cal Fire.
The remains of MacKenzie and Kevin Woyjeck, 21, were flown back to Southern California on Wednesday. Firefighters joined family of the two men to pay their respects during a Memorial Ramp Ceremony at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, Cal Fire said.
Among the guests at Saturday’s memorial were Jack and Nancy Warneke of San Jacinto, whose grandson, William Warneke, like MacKenzie a Hemet High grad, was killed in the Yarnell fire, and Joe Woyjeck, father of Kevin Woyjeck, according to the paper.
Hundreds of mourners gathered during the procession, led by Cal Fire and U.S. Forest Service vehicles, which transported MacKenzie’s body from Orange County back to Hemet, the Press Enterprise reported.
CDF Firefighters Local 2881 is in the process of establishing a donation site for the MacKenzie family, according to Cal Fire. To inquire about donating, email: mackenziefund@gmail.com.
A memorial service for Woyjeck is being planned in Long Beach for July 19, said Inspector Anthony Akins, public information officer for the L.A. County Fire Department.
Three others on the Arizona crew also hailed from California. Warneke, 25, was buried in Arizona on Wednesday, according to the Press Enterprise. Sean Misner, 26, will be transported by ground later this week, said Carroll Wills, communications director for the California Fire Foundation. Grant McKee, 21, will be buried in Arizona with his cousin Robert Caldwell, 23, according to Wills, but a private memorial for the cousins will be held July 20 in Newport Beach.
Thousands attended a ceremony in Prescott Valley on Tuesday in honor of all 19 firefighters who died together.
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