Los Angeles

Full Line of Duty Memorial Service Held for Inmate Killed While Fighting Fire in Malibu Hills

An American flag was draped over the casket of Shawna Lynn Jones at a full line of duty memorial service after she was killed while serving as an inmate firefighter in Malibu Hills.

"She had a positive attitude about her future and volunteered to be a firefighter," Capt. Patrick Jordan of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

On Monday, members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's and Fire departments joined her family and friends to pay final respects to a young woman who was turning her life around.

The 22-year-old was a member of Malibu Conservation Camp 13, which trains select minimum custody inmates to work with firefighters during wild land fires.

"She never complained about how tough the assignment was," Daryl L. Osby of the LA County Fire department said.

Inmate firefighters work in some of the toughest conditions and terrain. That was the case on Feb. 25 when Jones was with her crew on this brush fire in the hills above Malibu. She had to be airlifted out when a boulder fell from 100 feet above and hit her on the head. She was declared dead at a hospital.

"The most courageous action I recognized was her commitment to change, her commitment to be better than she was. She wanted to go on to be a crew member of the U.S. Forest Service," Osby said.

Family members said that Jones was the "biggest hero" and would always be.

Her casket was led out of the service past rows of sheriff's deputies and firefighters as her family tearfully watched. A final salute was given to the woman remembered for her desire to improve her own life by helping others.

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