A Texas firefighter has died helping battle Western wildfires, according to her department.
Diane Jones, a firefighter and EMT with Cresson Volunteer Fire Department, a community just southwest of Fort Worth had traveled west with her son—Cresson Fire Capt. Ian Shelly—to work putting out wildfires, KTVT-TV reports. They had been working for a private contractor and were assisting with the August Complex fires in Mendocino National Forest, north of San Francisco.
Jones had been with her son, battling a fire northwest of Sacramento, according to KTVT. She died in an accident while repositioning her truck during the blaze.
"Our department is numbed by the news and we are hurting," the department stated in an online update posted Monday.
The August Complex wildfires are made up of 37 separate fires and have burned nearly 237, 000 acres. It's 20 percent contained.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with our brothers and sisters at the Cresson VFD," nearby Granbury Volunteer Fire Department said in an online post. "One of their own gave the ultimate sacrifice yesterday battling the wildfires in California."
This is a developing story. Firehouse.com will update it when more details are available.
