kevin's dad joe. earlier tonight i spoke with him by phone. >> captain woyjeck, i'm so sorry for you and your family's loss, i can't imagine what you're going through at this point. what do you want people to know about your son, about kevin? >> he wanted to be a firefighter like his dad, like me. we come from a family of firefighters, we go to work. we know there's a risk. you spend your whole life protecting your children. and then knowingly letting him go into harm's way, i can only imagine how my parents felt when i became a firefighter. knew the risk was there. always smiling, always laughing. great fisherman, loved to fish. he always had a big heart. always wanted to be a fireman. he loved the outdoors. you know, sleeping in the dirt was not a big deal to him. he enjoyed it actually. just a great kid. not a mean bone in his body. just looking forward to become a firefighter. words can't describe the loss that our family's feeling right now. my wife and i, and my other son -- many times i will dig in and figure out what happened, but right now, i'm happy that i have my close tight family, and i'm

kevin's dad joe. earlier tonight i spoke with him by phone. >> captain woyjeck, i'm so sorry for you and your family's loss, i can't imagine what you're going through at this point. what do you want people to know about your son, about kevin? >> he wanted to be a firefighter like his dad, like me. we come from a family of firefighters, we go to work. we know there's a risk. you spend your whole life protecting your children. and then knowingly letting him go into harm's way, i can only imagine how my parents felt when i became a firefighter. knew the risk was there. always smiling, always laughing. great fisherman, loved to fish. he always had a big heart. always wanted to be a fireman. he loved the outdoors. you know, sleeping in the dirt was not a big deal to him. he enjoyed it actually. just a great kid. not a mean bone in his body. just looking forward to become a firefighter. words can't describe the loss that our family's feeling right now. my wife and i, and my other son -- many times i will dig in and figure out what happened, but right now, i'm happy that i have my close tight family, and i'm

and 21-year-old, kevin woyjeck, fire fighting was in his blood.early 30 year veteran of the l.a. county fire department. >> sean misner leaves behind his wife who is 7 months pregnant. a memorial fund has been set up on facebook to benefit the baby. heroes every single one of them. >> more on what the final moments may have been like for the firefighters as intense flames closed in on them. abc's ginger zee takes a look at the last line of defense, paper thin tents able to withstand 500-degree heat. >> reporter: as the flames climbed up to 20 feet, the 19 hot shots deployed their last chance, the emergency fire shelters. the men who died trained extensively with what firefighters called the shake and bake tent. you shake them to open. then bake in them until the fire passes. the team would have had as little as 30 seconds to wrap themselves inside. the group forms a tight circle and keeps their heads away from the fire. >> no matter what they hear, no matter what they see, or feel, they have to make an absolute commitment staying with the shelter

. >> reporter: yesterday, kevin woyjeck, one of the 19 firefighters killed in arizona, was laid to rest. today, many who attended his funeral are back on the front lines. the blaze forced 130 children with special needs to evacuate camp ronald mcdonald. and while flames closed in on pine springs ranch, firefighters took a stand at town hall and won. but this firefight isn't over yet. that plume of smoke is dropping ash on cities miles away. air quality is an issue across this region. the good news tonight, this fire is already 10% contained. brian? >> miguel almaguer in southern california for us tonight. miguel, thanks. >>> a storm of criticism. "rolling stone" magazine is getting attacked tonight for the man on the cover of "rolling stone," the accused boston marathon bomber. it started on social media, got louder all day as the picture was distributed. now, it's affecting retail. our report tonight from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: the floppy-haired face staring up from the cover of the august issue of "rolling stone" looks like he could be the latest teen sensation. it's dzhokhar t

. >> reporter: kevin woyjeck is just 21 years old. he also wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and fight fires with the los angeles county fire department. >> we're a giant family. any firefighter lost throughout the country is one of us. we're all a big family. >> reporter: andrew ashcraft leaves behind a wife and four young children, all under the age of six. >> 19 gone. it's unreal. overwhelming. so many families impacted. >> reporter: reality still hasn't sunk in for others. >> i thought for a moment that i had dreamt his death, but, sadly, it hit me moments later that it wasn't a dream or a nightmare. it was reality. >> most of them raised here, part of the community and met their wives here or their girlfriends, whatever they have. raised their kids here and the kids are all young. >> reporter: in this town of 40,000, it seems everyone knew at least one of these firefighters. >> just blind sides you, you know, drops you to your knees. >> reporter: jeff knew all of them. a fireman himself, he retired yesterday. his last sh

young men like kevin woyjeck, whose dad is an l.a. fire captain. >> these a great kid. i say kid, but he was a young man. he was working very hard. he was upbeat, loved to be around people, loved to help people. and he was working toward his dream of becoming a los angeles county fire department. it's a big loss for us today. >> reporter: wade parker was engaged to be married this fall. sean misner's wife is pregnant. andrew ashcraft has four little kids. >> struggling a lot. and -- sorry. i just -- we have three boys and one girl. and he loved them, and it's my job for them to know how much he loved them. >> reporter: tonight his wife is doing her best to keep strong for their kids. >> he is the best person i've ever met. and he gave all for his job, and it doesn't even compare to what he gave to his family. so -- and they were all like that. they're heroes. >> reporter: the nightmare began friday evening, when lightning ignited the dry brush a mile or so are from yarnell, arizona, about 90 miles northwest of phoenix. brush dry as tinder, high winds and a heat wave. tr

the youngest, kevin woyjeck, wanted to be a firefighter just like his dead. the oldest, eric marsh was 43. he wanted to be a firefighters from the time he was a boy. his uncle called him the bravest man he knew. andrew ashcraft, he had four children with his wife. andrew texted her a picture of the fire but then his texts stopped. it wasn't until she watched the news later that night with her children that she learned of his death. the military is sending planes to help with the fire on the ground. the fire is four times the size it was sunday and the struggle to contain it continues. brian, are firefighters making any head way at all? >> they're making a little bit of headway, jake, but this fire is still really out of control, more than 8,400 acres burned, more than 200 structures destroyed. they are getting some help today from four specially outfitted c-130 aircraft coming from the air force in colorado. these can drop 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant a second and they're coming in today, if they haven't already arrived, to come and help the fire

we'd parker, billy warneke, kevin woyjeck. >> andrew ashcraft had a wife and four young children. he was 29 years old. chris mackenzie was like so many the son of a firefighter. he loved snow boarding, living life to the fullest. chris mack ken zee was 30 years old. clayton played football, knew what a ground battle looked like off and on the gridiron. dustin was 242, loved the outdoors and loved to hunt. jesse steed served in the marines before becoming a firefighter in 2000 and became a hot shot in 2002. he was 36 years old and leaves behind a wife and two young kids. scott norris was 28, worked at a local gunshop, known as the ideal gentleman. sean was about to become a first time dad. he was 26 years old. travis carter at 31 was thinking about retiring this year. even younger at 22, wade parker was engaged to be married in october. billy had he live wod have become a father in december. he was 25 years old. kevin was born to be a hot shot. he is the son of a firefighter. earlier tonight i spoke with his father tonight by phone. >> i'm so sorry for you and your family's loss. i

warneky kevin woyjeck. mckie.udio] >> the surviving member of the hotshots is brendan mcdonough. every firefighter feels blessed that he is with us here today. it is my honor to introduce my brother firefighter, brendan mcdonough. [applause] >> my brothers, my sisters, my family. i would like to share with you. duty to fight the roaring blaze. lee's keep me safe and strong, i may be here for days. crewmembers asow we hiked the the top. help us cut enough line for the blaze to stop. -- skillslls enhance and hands be firm and quit. line, i stand the should answer doubts call. bless my hotshot crew, my family one and all. thank you, and i miss my brothers. we are here today to remember them. i love my family, all of you that are out there. thank you for supporting me. [applause] [no audio] ♪ [taps] >> on real-world personnel, please rise. personnel,ormed please rise. >> submit women are confronted with a more dangerous government than ever before. we are forced to continually change our strategies and tactics to acco

firefighters died on one day. 14 of the victims were in their 20s like kevin woyjeck, just 21. his father yo is a firefighter as well. he spoke to us about his loss. >> he wanted to be a firefighter like his dad, like me. we come from a family of firefighters. you know, we go to work, we know there's a risk. you know, and you spend your whole life protecting your children and knowingly letting him go into harm's way, i can only imagine how my parents felt when i became a firefighter. >> and later, we'll have much more on the hotshots. they've been described as the s.e.a.l. team 6 of firefighters. natalie. >> what a tragedy there. >>> here is a check of some other stories we're following this hour. five people were killed tuesday in a suicide bomb attack on a nato contractor's supply depot near kabul, afghanistan. a large truck bomb exploded near the front gate of the facility. then gunmen attacked the local guards. all of the insurgents were killed. four other people were injured. >>> an unmanned russian rocket carrying three navigation satellites failed at launch tuesday, expl

. >> reporter: 21-year-old kevin woyjeck followed in the footsteps of his father. >> words can't describehe loss that our family is feel. >> 31-year-old chris mckenzie also wanted to be a firefighter and he joined the department two years ago. andrew ashcraft, an athlete, a go-getter but most importantly a husband to wife julianne. he learned her husband had died while watching the news with her four children. >>e all will miss him very much. we all consider him a hero, along with all the other men that died. >> reporter: 25-year-old billy e was expecting his first child with wife roxanne. 26-year-old shawn misner was supposed to be the best friend at his friend's wedding. >> i could tell him anything, that we love him. we're going to take care of his family for him. >> reporter: their end, too early. their bodies moved out of the charred fields, past the residents they gave their very lives to save. kyung lah, cnn, prescott, arizona. >> just such incredibly sad story there and such a sad development as well. >>> and there's another big story that's developing. egypt for so many people ha

many of them dads and husbands. 21-year-old kevin woyjeck he hoped to some day work for the l.a. fire department where his dad was a captain. 30-year-old chris mackenzie was a firefighters. his family has few answers to what happened on that mountainside. >> something is wrong. that doesn't happen. they know what they're doing. he showed me pictures of fires that he ran from because, you know, they got too hot and too fast and they had to get out of there. why wasn't the same thing happening. i don't know. >> joining us from prescott, arizona, nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez. gabe, good morning. >> thomas, good morning. as you mentioned there are several aspects of the story playing out this morning. three in particular. first, people are continuing to mourn the victims here as you can see behind me. this makeshift memorial continues to grow and last night as you mentioned more than 1,000 people showed up at this memorial service. this extremely just so tragic for this town of about 40,000 people where it seems everyone knew at least one of the firefighters. some people kne

one of those firefighters is kevin woyjeck. he's 21.caught up with his friend who say he had a great smile and a great half. his dad is a captain with the l.a. county fire department and you can imagine this has been a gut-wrenching loss for the people who knew him best. >> he was a respectful, loving, good natured lighthearted young man. i never saw him go through the awkward teens. of course, i wasn't his parent. but he always had a smile and a hug. >> reporter: some of the notable speakers. the vice president will speak, the governor of arizona. but the person who most eyes will fall on is brendan mcdonna. he will read the hotshots prayer. it will be an emotional moment at that point in met morial. gregg: it's been a week and a half since this horrible accident. how are people responding? >> a very emotional week and a half as you can imagine. there has been a memorial set up across from the prescott fire department. that memorial has continued to get bigger and bigger. we ran into people who had come from across the country. some fr

. >> then there's 21-year-old kevin woyjeck, the son of a firefighter, whose life was cut short after joining the group. >> kevin was one of those kids at some times you don't know what their passion is going to be in life but kevin knew early in louvre he wanted to be a firefighter like his father. >> 30-year-old jesse steed, the captain of the hot shots. he joined in 2002 after serving in the marine corps. he leaves a wife and two children behind. >> what kind of person does it take to be a hot shot? >> somebody tough and assertive. you're using so much adrenaline all the time doing your job every single day, it becomes a part of life. >> prescott's fire captain worked hand in hand with the hot shots. ironically he retired on sunday after a 28 year career just hours after receiving the terrible news. >> the thought of our entire team being taken out just doesn't happen especially guys that are that good. >> the memorial at the fire station behind me has been growing steadily. autopsies under way to determine exactly how the firefighters died. but at this point authorities believe th

kevin woyjeck, 21. eric marsh, 43. robert caldwell, 23. scott norris, 28. sean misner, 26.carter, 31. travis turbyfill, 27. wade parker, 22. and william warneke, 25. you will be provided this list. okay. one correction. i missed clayton whitted, whose age is 28. very young crew. very energetic crew. very professional crew. you will be getting this, and also in the near future, we hope to have a little bit more information about these folks. as of right now, we don't have that assembled. but as i mentioned previously, we want you to have all the information that we have. we just won't give it prematurely. >> so there you have it, the fire chief in prescott, arizona reading the names of those 19 firefighters who were killed in this fire in arizona, a wildfire that continues right now. we'll stay on top of this story. much more on that coming up. >>> also coming up, the cnn exclusive interview with the former president of the united states, george w. bush and laura bush. >>> also, we spoke with jimmy carter. they both are two former presidents and they have two very different

warneky [bell tolls] kevin woyjeck. [bell tolls] john j. percin. [bell tolls] grant mckee. [bell tolls] sean michael misner. [bell tolls] >> the surviving member of the hotshots is brendan mcdonough. every firefighter feels blessed that he is with us here today. it is my honor to introduce my brother firefighter, brendan mcdonough. [applause] >> my brothers, my sisters, my family. i would like to share with you. a hotshot prayer. i'm called to duty to fight the roaring blaze. please keep me safe and strong, i may be here for days. be with my fellow crewmembers as we hiked up to the top. help us cut enough lines for the blaze to stop. let my skills and hands be firm and quick. first to stand the line, i should answer god's call. bless my hotshot crew, my family one and all. thank you, and i miss my brothers. we are here today to remember them. i love my family, all of you that are out there. thank you for supporting me. [applause] [taps] [taps] [drums] >> halt! >> all uniformed personnel, please rise. >> these men and women are confronted with a more dangerous environment th

. >> 21-year-old kevin woyjeck had fire fighting in his genes.ounty. >> our whole life we protect your children, put them in car seats and bicycle helmets and cars with airbags and then to put the kid in harm's way. you always wonder is that the right thing to do? but that's what he loved. >> reporter: joe says his son knew he wanted to become a fire fighter and did everything right to get ready for his profession. and knew the dangers as well. >> he called the house at 6:45 in the morning. and i actually took the call. and he said, you know there is a fire in yarnell. i am going to be headed that way. and -- that's it so we never heard from him again. >> we cannot tell you our grief. we are so sorry for all the people who loved kevin, so many people. who loved him and so many friends who are heartbroken. >> reporter: kevin was an older brother to two siblings his 16-year-old sister maddy says there are so many things she will miss about her brother. >> i will miss his smile, his laugh. the way he said i love you. and he was so outgoing. and he c