Town Pays Tribute to 14 Fallen Firefighters
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Five helicopters roared over this resort town Sunday and a 30-foot cross was lighted on a mountain in honor of 14 firefighters killed battling a wind-whipped blaze.
About 400 firefighters and 3,000 others turned out for a tribute to the 10 men and four women killed Wednesday on the steep slopes of nearby Storm King Mountain.
“Please forgive this mountain, she couldn’t control what happened up there,” Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) told the crowd gathered at Two Rivers Park, at the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers.
The helicopters flew in “missing man” formation, with four together and one behind. The electric cross on Red Mountain will be lighted 14 days, one for each victim.
“These 14 are now part of Glenwood Springs,” said Bob Zanella, mayor of the town of about 6,000. “They are ours. They will be remembered.”
The fire, which burned 1,856 acres, was contained by Saturday night. An Army helicopter assisted in putting out the remaining small, isolated blazes on Sunday.
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