Inmate firefighter dies after being hit by boulder in Malibu fire

WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A female inmate firefighter who was hit by a boulder while battling a 7-acre brush fire in Malibu Thursday morning has died, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials said.

Shawna Lynn Jones, 22, was removed from life support after being airlifted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in critical condition. In keeping with her family's wishes, Jones' organs were donated.

Fire officials say the boulder fell about 100 feet from the hillside above and struck Jones in the head. She was a member of Fire Camp 13, the only all-female camp in Los Angeles County.

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

Jones, an L.A. County jail inmate, joined CDCR's firefighting program in August 2015. She's the third inmate firefighter to die on a fire line since the camp program began in 1943, correction officials said.

Inmate firefighters cut containment lines to stop the spread of wildfires and douse hotspots during cleanup.