TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. (KXAS/NBC) – A north Texas firefighter battling the wildfires in California has died.
63-year-old Diana Jones was working a blaze Monday in Tehama County when the fire became more active. She and another firefighter got into their truck to escape the flames. As they reversed the vehicle, it plunged down an embankment and slammed into a tree.
Jones was not able to escape the vehicle as fire engulfed it, officials said. The other person in the vehicle was able to get out but suffered burns that required hospitalization.
For the last five years, Jones was part of the Cresson Volunteer Fire Department about 25-miles southwest of Fort Worth.
Fire Chief Ron Becker said she will be dearly missed. He explained, “She loved helping other people and she didn’t do it for pats on the back, she just did it because she thought that was the thing to do, I’m going to miss her, we’re going to miss her badly.”
The chief said every year, Jones and her adult son, who is a captain with the fire department, would head west for contract work to help battle wildfires.
They were most recently in northwest California fighting the fires in Mendocino National Forest.
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