Every year on July 10, the West Valley Fire Department remembers Jessica Johnson, a young volunteer firefighter who lost her life battling a massive blaze in the Okanogan National Forest.
Johnson was only 19 when she and three other firefighters lost their lives to the Thirtymile Fire on July 10, 2001.
Johnson was a student at Central Washington University who was fighting fires with the U.S. Forest Service for the summer when she was assigned to the fire about 30 miles north of Winthrop.
The day after the fire sparked, it spread rapidly and took the lives of Tom Craven, Karen Fitzpatrick, Devin Weaver and Johnson, according to West Valley Fire Chief Nathan Craig.
Johnson was a volunteer firefighter for West Valley from 1999 until the time of her death.