Share
SAN FRANCISCO — A firefighter from Texas killed battling a wildfire in the Northern California forest was working the fire lines when her truck rolled off a remote backcountry road as she tried to escape the flames, fire officials said.
Diana Jones, 63, was an emergency medical technician with the Cresson Volunteer Fire Department in Texas who had spent the last few summers doing contract firefighting with her son, a captain with the department, the fire department said in a statement published Wednesday on its Facebook page.
“We’re all numb. We’re shell-shocked. She’ll be sorely missed,” Cresson Fire Chief Ron Becker told KQED News.
A retired hairdresser, Jones had been a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in Cresson, a community of 1,000 people about 25 miles south of Fort Worth, for nearly five years. She and her son, Captain Ian Shelly, would travel to the Pacific Northwest to work on wildfires, Becker said.
Jones was working at 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 about 15 feet down an embankment and slammed into a tree, CHP spokesman Omar Valdez told KQED News.
Jones was not able to escape the vehicle as fire engulfed it, Valdez said. The other person in the vehicle was able to get out but suffered burns that required hospitalization.

Jones’ Death Marks the Second Fatality Among First Responders Helping Battle Wildfires
The complex burning in timber, chaparral and tall grass began as 37 separate fires but many have either been contained or merged, according to the Forest Service.
Jones’ death marks the second fatality among first responders helping battle wildfires in California since mid-August when thousands of lightning strikes ignited hundreds of blazes around the state.
Many blazes continued to burn Wednesday and firefighters working to contain them were cautioned about increasingly warm and dry conditions heading toward the Labor Day weekend.
The two largest fires, east and north of San Francisco Bay, were each at least 70% surrounded, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Wednesday. A third big fire, burning to the south in the Santa Cruz Mountains region, was 46% surrounded.
The progress has allowed thousands of people to return home but nearly 40,000 remained under evacuation orders, Cal Fire said.
The fires have destroyed more than 5,800 structures destroyed, many of them homes and killed eight people.
Hundreds of wildfires ignited after a massive electrical storm unleashed thousands of lightning bolts have burned more than 2,218 square miles.
RELATED TOPICS:
Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to $600K Cocaine Bust
36 minutes ago
New US SEC Chair Says Crypto Sector Deserves Clear Regulations
1 hour ago
US Officials Arrest Milwaukee Judge for Obstructing Immigration Operation
1 hour ago
Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill
2 hours ago
China Exempts Some Goods From US Tariffs
3 hours ago
Luigi Mangione Due in Court for Arraignment as Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty
3 hours ago
Shedeur Sanders Snubbed in NFL Draft’s Round 1 but Leads List of Top Available Players for Day 2
3 hours ago
49ers Draft Georgia Edge Rusher Mykel Williams With the No. 11 Pick in the NFL Draft
3 hours ago
Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder
21 minutes ago
Categories

Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Willie Ray Butler

California’s Economy Ranks Fourth Worldwide, Surpasses Japan

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to $600K Cocaine Bust

New US SEC Chair Says Crypto Sector Deserves Clear Regulations

US Officials Arrest Milwaukee Judge for Obstructing Immigration Operation

Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill

Wired Wednesday: What’s the Future of Fresno Unified and the Superintendent Position?

Zakaria Draws Parallels Between Trump’s Tariffs, Failed 1930s Economic Policies
