Scott Jones

Assistant Chief Jones retired from the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) in 2005 after decades of dedicated service. Prior to his employment with LACoFD, Chief Jones served as a firefighter with the US Forest Service (USFS). The LACoFD is the largest local government employer of firefighters in California and the Western United States, and an all- hazards fire agency that responds to hundreds of thousands of emergencies each year. As a full time career firefighter, Chief Jones had a reputation for excelling in all areas. However, based on his early employment with the USFS and his passion for wildland firefighting, he became a well-known subject matter expert in wildland firefighting, particularly in the wildland urban interface. He retired as the Assistant Chief of the Air & Wildland Division at LACoFD. The Air & Wildland Division is made up of dozens of handcrews, several bulldozers, and the most robust local government helicopter and aviation section in service then and today. Over his career, Chief Jones has served on multiple local, state, and federal wildland fire committees. He was key in development and adoption of many of the policies and operational procedures in use today. So, it’s not a surprise that even though he retired in 2005, he has remained engaged in the area of wildland fire to this day. Understanding the value of Chief Jones’ experience and his talent for teaching/instructing others, he was asked to work as a “retired annuitant” for LACoFD since his retirement and has trained literally hundreds of firefighters and supervisors in wildland fire operations and procedures, including fire aviation. This nomination is specific to his founding of a new concept and program in California. The program is called the “Quick Reaction Force” (QRF). Although there currently is no ICS accepted terminology for the resources the program provides, it is in fact a standing “aerial task force” (ATF). Efforts are underway to have this “ATF” integrated into the IROC ordering system now that the 2021 QRF pilot program is complete. The QRF ATF is funded (approximately $18 million) by the second largest public utility in California. Given that the QRF four aircraft and mobile retardant base (MRB) are available to all fire agencies within the public utility service area (15-counties) and based in three (3) separate Southern California counties, the QRF resources are considered “regional.” In 2021, the aircraft and MRB were staffed and available 24-hours a day, for a 180-day contract period. During this time, the pilot program made wildland fire aviation history. Dispatched and operated as an initial attack aerial task force (ATF), the QRF aircraft, MRB, and support equipment responded to dozens of fires in California. More importantly, the initial attack of the thirty-nine (39) fires in Southern California resulted in zero multi-operational period fires. The QRF ATF was requested and responded to the Caldor Fire (Eldorado NF) on two separate occasions. It was during these assignments that the QRF ATF aircraft made history. Specifically, the first night water drops in Northern California history and the first night fire retardant drops in US history. This was all made possible because of Chief Jones’ singular vision. Chief Jones has experienced many times throughout his full time and part time career, wildland fires that could have been extinguished during the initial or extended attack phase of the fire, if the immediate availability of several large water/retardant dropping Type 1 helitankers had been possible. It was with this vision that the QRF ATF pilot program was conceived and operationalized. Even during the pilot program, QRF aircraft were credited with significantly reducing the risk exposure of responders, preventing evacuations of the public, and saving tens of millions of dollars of values at risk and critical infrastructure. The QRF doctrinal document has been attached as have several videos that demonstrate the success of the QRF ATF pilot program. The program changed the way aerial firefighting is conducted in California. Both the federal and state wildland fire agencies are considering the development of similar ATF programs. The public utility that funded the QRF ATF program is in the process of identifying funding for a second year of QRF ATF operation.