Louisiana's fire marshal and agriculture commissioner plan a memorial service to honor the 19 Arizona wildland firefighters who died battling a lightning-sparked blaze northwest of Phoenix.
Flags "fly" at half staff at the fire station in
downtown Lafayette Tuesday..
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's fire marshal and agriculture commissioner plan a memorial service to honor the 19 Arizona wildland firefighters who died battling a lightning-sparked blaze northwest of Phoenix.
The ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Louisiana State Firefighter's Memorial, Fire Marshal Butch Browning and Agriculture Commissioner Butch Strain said.
Strain also ordered flags at Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry facilities statewide to be flown at half-staff from Monday through Friday.
The "Hotshots" died Sunday - the biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years.
Strain and Browning said in a statement, "We owe a great deal to those who selflessly put themselves in harm's way every day to protect us. Our heart and prayers go out to the family, friends and fellow firefighters of these heroes."