SCOTTSDALE โ The producers had one goal when they set out to do โOnly the Brave,โ the film that chronicles the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire in Prescott that killed 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots.
Tell the menโs stories.
โPeople donโt know what these guys do and we got the chance to introduce them to the world,โ Michael Menchel said last week as reporters from around the state gathered at Scottsdaleโs The Phoenician Resort for a media event promoting the film. It arrives at theaters on Friday, Oct. 20.
โWeโre super proud of the film,โ fellow producer Trent Luckinbill added, a sentiment shared by Brendan McDonough, the lone survivor of the Yarnell Hill Fire.
โSince Day 1 weโve just felt that everyone who has been a part of it just wants to make sure that itโs authentic and make sure itโs honoring and make sure itโs a fitting film,โ McDonough said. โMake sure it shows what our brothers were about and the moral code they carried.โ
McDonough and former Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighter Pat McCarty consulted with the filmmakers throughout the production, advising them on everything from the crew membersโ personalities to how to recreate the fire that engulfed Yarnell Hill in late June 2013.
In an interview, the pair remembered their fallen colleagues and gave us a behind-the-scenes peek into the film.
About the film
โOnly the Brave,โ directed by Joseph Kosinski, stars Josh Brolin as Eric Marsh, Granite Mountainโs supervisor; Jennifer Connelly as his wife, Amanda; Miles Teller as Brendan โDonutโ McDonough; Jeff Bridges as Duane Steinbrink, the crewโs biggest chearleader; James Badge Dale as Jesse Steed, Marshโs second-in-command; and Taylor Kitsch as Chris MacKenzie, McDonoughโs roommate. The screenplay is based on Sean Flynnโs GQ article โNo Exit: The Granite Mountain Yarnell Fire Investigation.โ Itโs rated PG-13.
Playing with real fire
Every scene in which the actors were close to fire was real, McCarty said. And the big Yarnell Hill blaze? That was recreated on a New Mexico backlot forest, where they had planted 10 to 15 acres of ponderosa pines similar to the ones in Prescott.
โIt was unbelievable what went into this. That ended up getting burned, all of it,โ McCarty said. โIt was done very intentionally to be realistic. If you donโt pay attention to authenticity in a film like this, you donโt have a film.โ
Let us introduce our brothers.
โThere were so many great moments that were brought to life. Some fantastic memories of my brothers and how they transformed my life and what that brotherhood was,โ McDonough said. โThis film is so much more than the tragedy. This film is how they lived, what they did.โ
Among the scenes that stood out for McDonough was one where he and his roommate, Chris MacKenzie, called hotshot members for help when McDonoughโs infant daughter came down with a high fever.
โThat hit home to the brotherhood. That hit home to how much those men loved me and how much I loved them, who we were on and off the job,โ he said. โThere were moments (in the film) that were so powerful from the beginning to the end.โ
What the 19 firefighters would think of the film
McDonough and McCarty said their fallen colleagues would probably laugh at the thought that anyone would make a movie about them.
โThese arenโt the type of people who want the spotlight. To have the spotlight shed on them, Iโm sure they would feel a little bit embarrassed,โ McCarty said. โAnd I think that speaks to the entire hotshots community, the entire wildlands firefighting community and the entire firefighting community. They donโt want the spotlight, but they deserve it.โ
Brendan McDonough still lives in Prescott with his fiancรฉ and now 6-year-old daughter.
Last year, his memoir, โMy Lost Brothers: The Untold Story by the Yarnell Hill Fireโs Lone Survivor,โ was published. He is a public speaker and works with nonprofits for veterans and first responders.
Pat McCarty is a Prescott city firefighter and serves on the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Partnership board of directors.
The partnership in June started accepting proposals for a memorial to the 19 firefighters to be built on the corner of the Yavapai County Courthouse square in Prescott.
