Willie Craven tries to put together the pieces of what happened here at his son's grave site.
Tom Craven was just 30 years old when he died fighting the Thirty Mile Fire near Winthrop 17 years ago.
Willie will never forget the night he found out.
"We got a call and my wife started screaming, 'he's gone, he's gone!'"
Willie built an elaborate memorial in his hometown of Roslyn to honor Tom. It includes burned out trees from the fire itself and a rock from the place the young firefighter died.
Tom rests in peace right next to his mom, who died a few years ago.
"When his mom passed I said, 'Hey, Tom. You got somebody who's been looking forward to seeing you.' That was my wife."
The memorial is open to the public. It is a quiet place that reflects Tom's love of the outdoors with statues of deer and other animals scattered about.
But recently, someone came through the cemetery and damaged two of the deer, smashing part of a cement leg and peppering another with what looks like buckshot.
"Why would somebody do that?" Willie asked, with a tear in his eye. "That really hurt."
Willie was so upset he had to be hospitalized briefly for a heart issue.
Most upsetting is that Willie didn't build the memorial just for his son. It's for all four firefighters who died that day, with plaques and pictures prominently displayed.
"They disrespected all the firefighters who lost their lives," he says.
To Willie, it is one thoughtless, careless act that has rekindled the pain of a loss that still burns.
Mr. Craven is hoping someone might repair the concrete and rebar statues for him.
He asks anyone who can help to contact him at P.O. Box 32 Roslyn, WA 98941
