After working together for the Roosevelt Hotshots in Fort Collins, Colorado, they went their separate ways for several years, then reunited when Hughes joined the Arrowhead Hotshots four years ago. When Suarez met Hughes in 2007, he knew immediately that Hughes would make an excellent hotshot. More: Intense heat, 'firenadoes' fuel deadly Carr Fire in California "The way that everyone rallies around each other – I miss it every day." "All of a sudden you take this group of people and you just put them under intense pressure," he said. And the camaraderie of crews, he said, isn't limited to the Arrowheads. Like Hughes, he loved the excitement and adrenaline rush of firefighting. Michael Kennard, a former hotshot firefighter who founded the website, said the Arrowhead Hotshots have a "great reputation in the hotshot community." “This team has held together for two or three seasons now, intact," Smeck said at a news conference Monday. "I think that’s a big tribute to Brian, his personality, his ability to keep the team together, connected, supported. The Arrowhead Hotshots are unusual, said Woody Smeck, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, because the group of firefighters has remained the same over multiple seasons –noteworthy for such a demanding profession. “They have to be in incredible shape, they have to be able to work long hours doing very physical work," she said. “Hotshot crews are exposed to significantly more risk." Jessica Garcetti, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, described hotshots as “some of the most hard-core firefighters that there are." Hughes was killed after being struck by a tree. They travel long distances to fight blazes and can go months without seeing their families during fire season. Hotshot crews go straight to the heart of wildfires, working long shifts removing trees and digging lines. At least eight people, including Hughes, have been killed, and seven are missing. Hughes was one of thousands of firefighters fighting deadly blazes across the state. “He was motivated, he was enthusiastic, he loved what he was doing," said Joe Suarez, superintendent of the Arrowhead Hotshots, based at Sequoia and Kings National Parks. His colleagues remembered Hughes, 33, as a fearless man who led his crew in performing an intense, physically demanding job. Watch Video: Deadly Carr Fire burns hundreds of homes, thousands fleeīrian Hughes, a firefighter who died Sunday battling the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park in California, captained an elite team of experienced firefighters called the Arrowhead Hotshots.
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