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Hotshots killed in Arizona wildfire return home to California (photos)
Family members mourn Christopher MacKenzie, 20, at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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A firefighter takes part in a funeral procession at Los Alamitos Air Field in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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The body of firefighter Kevin Woyjeck, 21, is unloaded from a plane that carried the fallen from Arizona.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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Firefighters salute Christopher MacKenzie, 20, and Kevin Woyjeck, 21, as their bodies arrive at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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The body of Kevin Woyjeck, 21, is placed in a vehicle for a procession at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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Firefighters participate in a memorial for Christopher MacKenzie, 20, and Kevin Woyjeck, 21, arrive at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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Firefighters participate in a memorial ceremony for Christopher MacKenzie, 20, and Kevin Woyjeck, 21, arrive at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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The body of Christopher MacKenzie, 20, arrives at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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A truck for the Granite Mountain Hot Shots is parked on the tarmac at Los Alamitos Air Field as Christopher MacKenzie, 20, is taken from the plane.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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A plane carrying the bodies firefighters Christopher MacKenzie, 20, and Kevin Woyjeck, 21, arrives at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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A coffin carrying Kevin Woyjeck, 21, arrives at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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Firefighters participate in a memorial for Christopher MacKenzie, 20, and Kevin Woyjeck, 21, arrive at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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The logo of the Granite Mountain Hot Shot Crew on a truck parked at Los Alamitos Air Field.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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A flag flies outside the gates of a ceremony for firefighters Christopher MacKenzie, 20, and Kevin Woyjeck, 21, arrive at Los Alamitos Airfield in Orange County.
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Grant Slater/KPCC
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The remains of two Southern California firefighters, killed while fighting an Arizona wildfire, arrived at a ceremony in Los Alamitos on Wednesday.
Hundreds of their comrades gathered at Los Alamitos Air Field as a plane landed with two coffins carrying the bodies of Christopher MacKenzie, 20, and Kevin Woyjeck, 21.
Bagpipes led the procession and fire engines lined the tarmac at the National Guard training center and air field. Leather-clad veterans joined the procession on motorcycles.
The families of MacKenzie and Woyjeck spent a few minutes with the coffins before they were placed into hearses by a full honor guard.
Mackenzie, whose father is a retired California firefighter, will be escorted by a procession to Hemet for burial. The remains of Seal Beach native Kevin Woyjeck, 21, the son of an L.A. County Fire Department captain, will be carried to Long Beach.
"All firefighters feel the pain, not only because they work side by side with these folks, but also they understand that they could be next," said Wills. "The next call could claim their lives as well."
The two men were among 19 hotshots, killed in Arizona June 30, while fighting the fast-moving Yarnell Hill wildfire. The fire is 90 percent contained.
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