Female Inmate Firefighter Struck By Boulder In Malibu Blaze Dies

MALIBU (CBSLA.com/AP) – A female inmate firefighter struck in the head by a falling boulder while battling a Malibu fire has died, authorities said Friday.

Shawna Lynn Jones, 22, was injured early Thursday morning as crews raced to contain the Mulholland Fire, according to the state Department of Corrections (CDCR).

She was removed from life support after her organs were donated, officials said.

Jones is the third inmate firefighter to die on a fire line since the camp program began in 1943.

"Her death is a tragic reminder of the danger that inmate firefighters face when they volunteer to confront fires to save homes and lives," said CDCR Secretary Scott Kernan. "On behalf of all of us in the department, I send my deepest condolences to her family."

Jones had been airlifted to UCLA Medical Center, where she was initially listed in critical condition with major head injuries
suffered during the firefight on Mulholland Drive near the Pacific Coast Highway.

Inspector Randall Wright of the Los Angeles County Fire Department says she was hit by a rock that fell about 100 feet from the hillside above her.

Authorities say she had joined CDCR's firefighting program in Aug. 2015 and was assigned to the Malibu Camp, one of three camps that house nearly 200 female firefighters.

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