By The Associated Press
The mayor of the Arizona city that lost 19 firefighters in a deadly blaze this summer survived a tougher-than-expected re-election challenge Tuesday, overcoming a dispute over benefits for the crew’s families that divided the town.
Mayor Marlin Kuykendall angered residents and some widows of the firefighters for his stance on the benefits. Thirteen of the fallen firefighters were classified as seasonal employees and therefore not entitled to the more lucrative benefits that the six full-time members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew received.
Kuykendall said it would be illegal to change the rules after the fact to extend full-time benefits to families of the entire crew, and some voters were upset that Prescott wasn’t doing more for men who gave their lives protecting the nearby city of Yarnell from the fire on June 30.
