Ariz. Hotshot widow Juliann Ashcraft fighting for denied benefits [View all]
(CBS News) PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- Five weeks ago, 19 men were killed fighting a wildfire near Yarnell, Ariz. They died together.
Andrew Ashcraft, 29, seen here with his wife, Juliann Ashcraft, was one of 19 elite "hotshot" firefighters killed in an Arizona wildfire this week.
It turns out, however, their families may not receive the same compensation.
The fire that swept over the Granite Mountain Hotshots left Juliann Ashcraft a widow. Her husband Andrew was 29 years old. "I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting my children, be figuring out what our new normal is," she said.
But she's been denied the lifetime benefits she was counting on to raise her four children, the youngest of whom is 18 months old. Ashcraft did not think it would be this much of an issue.
"As shocked as I was that my husband went to work and never came home, I'm equally shocked in how the city has treated our family since then," she said.
All 19 hotshot families will receive worker's compensation and a one-time federal payment of $328,000. But the city insists Ashcraft and 12 others were seasonal employees and are therefore not entitled to the lifetime salaries and health benefits -- worth millions -- given to the six full-time Hotshots.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57597110/ariz-hotshot-widow-juliann-ashcraft-fighting-for-denied-benefits/
Sigh.....
It never ends.
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