Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service
Vista Grande Hotshot Brent Witham, who was killed Aug. 2, while working on the Lolo Peak Fire in Montana, is coming home Monday, Aug. 7. Witham will be escorted home from Montana to his family, arriving at the San Bernardino air tanker base about 3:00 p.m. He will be escorted the entire way by Forest Service law enforcement and Honor Guard, and received by his family, his crew, San Bernardino National Forest employees, and various interagency engines and personnel.
Witham will be honored with a processional escort to the Montecito Memorial Park & Mortuary in Colton, CA. An Honor Watch will be in place with him until interment. The procession route will move from the air tanker base, along 3rd Street, south along Tippecanoe in front of the Forest Service Headquarters, west on Orange Show and south on Waterman to the Montecito Memorial Park & Mortuary at 3520 E Washington St, Colton, CA. Those who would like to honor Brent are encouraged to view the processional from any point along the route. This route is tentative pending final approval and the processional is expected to take about an hour.
The Lolo National Forest will be live streaming a processional and escort happening in Montana as Witham is moved to the plane that will bring him home. Watch at https://www.facebook.com/lolonationalforest/. The start time is expected to be at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time.
The memorial service itself has been scheduled for Thursday, August 10th at the National Orange Show, Orange Pavilion, Arrowhead entrance, San Bernardino, CA. Anyone who would like to attend is welcome. The memorial will begin about 10 a.m. but the doors will be open about 9. If this information is updated, it will be posted immediately on the blog.
A blog has been established to help the public, media and agency personnel find detailed information about the August 10th memorial. As information like parking, seating, times, agency attire, etc becomes available, it will be posted immediately on the blog. Please check back frequently www.withammemorialceremony.blogspot.com.
Condolences for the family can be mailed to the San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 602 South Tippecanoe, San Bernardino, CA 92408. Emails can be sent to [email protected].
Please put “CONDOLENCES” in the subject line. All correspondence will be given to Brent’s family. For those who would like to remember Brent with a donation, a Memorial Fund is being set up. We ask for your patience as this can’t be done until after the weekend. Updates will be posted on the blog as soon as we have them.
