ROSEBURG – A memorial to eight wildland firefighters killed in a van crash last weekend took shape Tuesday as friends and strangers alike trickled in to place flowers, photographs and a large wreath in front of the contract company that served as the crew’s home base.

The firefighters, most in their late teens and early twenties, died Sunday when the van they were riding in slammed head-on into a semi-truck on a winding road about 16 miles west of Vale. Initial reports from witnesses indicated that the van tried to pass the semi on a curve in a no-passing zone.

Tuesday, the shocked families met for four hours with counselors, officials at First Strike Environmental Co. and the crew’s fire boss, Justin Krueger, who was riding at the front of the convoy and was one of the first on scene. The company presented the families with the last photos that were taken of the group in Idaho and shared tributes to the crew made by their colleagues, said Bob Krueger, First Strike president.

Each firefighter’s family will receive a total of $4,000 from the Wildland Firefighter’s Association and the Oregon Firefighter’s Contract Association.

“Their sons are heroes,” said an emotional Krueger. “They fight fires, they save your houses and they don’t think about their safety when they’re on the job.”

Krueger said two of the firefighters – Jeff Hengel, 20, of Sutherlin and Paul Gibson, 25, of Myrtle Creek – had been positively identified by the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office, meaning the families could send for the remains. The bodies of the other six men – four from Douglas County and two from Portland – were transferred to Portland where the state medical examiner would use dental records to identify them, he said.

Officials identified them as Ricardo Ruiz, 19, Jesse James, 22 and Leland Price Jr., 27, all of Roseburg; Mark Ransdell of Myrtle Creek and David Hammer, 38 and Richard B. Moore II, 21, both of Portland.

Details of a formal public memorial won’t be announced until later in the week, Krueger said.