Lifestyles
This pencil sketch of RFD Chief Louis Jones was drawn by RFD
Firefighter Shane Olive. Originally from Australia, Olive has been a Roswell
Fire Department firefighter for 15 years, assigned to various stations. For the
past two years, he has been assigned to Station 6.
The original portrait, with the large matting around it
filled with firefighters' signatures, was presented to Carol Jones -- Chief
Jones' wife who is a Fort Worth Texas Firefighter.
RFD CHIEF LOUIS JONES
Rwm
Known as a bear of a man with the heart of a lamb, Roswell Fire Chief Steven
Louis Jones was greatly admired by his peers and beloved by the community and
state he served and helped to protect.
He was an humble man, unconcerned with himself, but a fiercely protective,
loyal and able leader of his firefighters and fellow emergency personnel.
His larger-than-life size and physique made him seem like Superman, powerful
enough to catch and deflect a speeding bullet. It didn't seem possible that
anything, not even a bullet, could stop him, but it did, in the early morning
hours of March 16. He died 10 days later.
At his service, many hundreds of firefighters, law enforcement officers and
emergency personnel came from near and far to honor him. Fire trucks of ever
size, type and color filled downtown Roswell's streets and parking lots for many
blocks surrounding the church where his services were held, and the funeral
procession, seemingly unending, extended with lights flashing from the middle of
town all the way to the cemetery.
It was my privilege to interview Jones on several occasions. The last time I
saw him, within six weeks of his death, he was moving furniture and cleaning an
office at Station One, which had undergone renovations. To stay within their
lean budget, the chief and his firefighters were always doing as much as
possible themselves.
When he was promoted to Fire Chief in early April of last year, I interviewed
him. From his desk, he looked up at me from between his fingers, saying
"This is embarrassing." He did not want to talk about himself, but he was very
comfortable speaking of Roswell's firefighters and how important they and all
emergency personnel are to their respective communities. I continually pulled
him back to himself, a subject he preferred to avoid. Much of my information
about Jones' RFD advancement was taken from a copy of his resume that he gave
me.
While I sat in his office after his promotion to Chief, a florist made a
delivery to him. He looked at the card and smiled. "From my lovely wife, Carol,"
he said.
Whenever I interviewed him, he commented on "my beautiful wife, Carol," and
assured that I mentioned her in my notes. Carol Jones is a firefighter in Fort
Worth, Texas. Last April, she had been named Firefighter of the Year by that
department for her actions during a tornado, and he talked about that. Chief
Jones was very proud of his wife.
Jones' son, Marty, is a Chaves County Sheriff's Deputy, and his son, Cody,
works at Albertson's in Roswell. His daughter, Christie, lives in Arkansas. All
three of his children are married. His parents and two of his three brothers
reside in Roswell.
Jones said he was born in Oklahoma, but his family moved to the Roswell area
when he was about five years old. He grew up on a ranch 25 miles east of
Roswell.
"For its size, it should have had three or four ranch hands, but the work was
done by Dad, mostly. My three brothers and I helped out when we could." Jones
credited his own strong work ethics to his dad and his years of living and
working on the ranch. "You work without supervision, you have to be honest and
do your job," he said. His elementary education was at "the old LFD" school, he
attended Berrendo Middle School, and graduated from Roswell High School in 1974.
Because of ranch life, he was on the bus by 6 a.m. and off at 5 p.m. each school
day. He attended Texas' Sul Ross State University. For a while, he returned to
ranching. He was a ranch foreman in Oklahoma and on ranches near Roswell.
He was hired as an RFD firefighter in August, 1982. He took his initial
recruitment schooling, which then was an intensive and informative three weeks
of training. Now, he said, that initial training is an eight-week program.
That was only the beginning of Jones' training and classes he took, many of
which were elective. He showed an unusual amount of interest in and commitment
to his job. Classes included emergency medical technician training. Within his
first two years with the RFD, he became an EMT basic instructor and
coordinator.
March 1983, he was promoted to driver, a step towards becoming an RFD
officer, and he began riding rescue. In July 1984, he applied to attend state
fire training academy but instead, he was asked to be a training instructor in
building construction and forceable entry. The next year, he was again asked to
instruct.
April 1986, Jones was promoted to Lieutenant. He reworked the drivers tests
to make them more realistic to actual situations firefighters face. He also
reworked the tests for firefighter applicants, making them more comprehensive
and reflecting the full depth of knowledge required of the apparatus and
equipment.
He worked as roving lieutenant and filled in as battalion chief. He said a
battalion chief, the same as a shift commander, is responsible for all of the
Roswell fire stations during his duty hours, as well as for the 21 pieces of
apparatus and 25 shift personnel. After Jones transferred to Station One, he
filled in for battalion chief, became acting battalion fire chief, and was
promoted to battalion chief August 1991.
When I interviewed him April 12, 2001, he said the number of apparatus and
personnel were the same as they had been 10 years earlier. Yet, he said, the
number of calls to which they respond have more than doubled.
He said the number of fires they respond to were considerably reduced because
of preventative measures firefighters take and teach. Medical and trauma calls
account for the increase of the number of calls, about 80% to 85%, to which they
now respond.
In 1984, the RFD began to respond to all medical calls within Roswell and
then expanded their response area into the county. Besides their designated
rescue wagons, all of their trucks began to be equipped, and have trained
personnel onboard, to respond to emergency medical and trauma calls.
Because of their strategically placed stations around Roswell and the RIAC,
they have the fastest response time of any emergency units. A few days after the
incident that ultimately took the Chief's life, City Councilor Judy Stubbs
said Jones had commented that he hoped the city's embattled ambulance service
would be able to come under the jurisdiction of the RFD.
Since my interview of Jones a year ago when he became chief, two new fire
stations have been dedicated, the remodeling of all other stations is in
process, and the RFD has purchased six additional apparatus (which, to the
unenlightened, are units or trucks). It is standard procedure that each fire
truck is custom-built to specifications. The manufacture of the RFD's six new
ones is in process.
Through several prior chiefs' administrations, the RFD has needed additional
firefighters. Jones asked the City to appropriate funds to hire six more,
stressing that firefighters are at risk when their crews are understaffed. After
years of being chronically understaffed, thanks to the chief's efforts, the City
recently allocated funds to hire the six additional firefighters the department
needed.
Last year, Jones and the RFD brought before the City of Roswell and the
County of Chaves a proposal for a grant for a burn building training center for
firefighters, a facility that could also be utilized by fire departments from
all over the surrounding area, as well as law enforcement officers. RFD Lt.
Shane Adams drew the professionally detailed blueprint. Both the county and the
city have allocated land for the center, and the RFD, comparing the assets at
both locations, will select one of those. Funds have now been allocated to
provide a water system to the site that is chosen. Those are the first steps
towards bringing the center, Jones' dream, to reality.
Roswell Fire Department personnel credit Jones with many improvements and
advancements in the short period of time, just under one year, that he was their
chief. He was eligible to retire in August but it is doubtful retirement was in
his plans.
Residents have asked why the city's fire chief was at the scene that dark
night, in the early morning hours of March 16. Some law enforcement personnel
said he randomly showed up at fires, reflective of the type of good and
responsible chief that he was. Some firefighters said he heard on the scanner
that there was an explosion along with a fire, and their chief responded
out of concern for his firefighters.
Quickly at the scene, Chief Jones saw injured people and did not hesitate to
try to render them aid.
No one would have expected a firefighter, much less the department's chief,
to be shot in the line of duty. "Killed by a building caving in on our heads,
yes, we can expect that," said a firefighter collecting donations the next
weekend for all March 16 victims' families. "But not by a bullet."
When I had interviewed Chief Jones after "nine-one-one" (the national
emergency of September 11), he reminded me that many firefighters die in the
U.S. every year; it is a dangerous livelihood. The large number of
firefighters who died in Manhattan at "Ground Zero" would further increase the
number of fatalities for the year 2001, he said.
The "nine-one-one" national emergency and tragedy in New York belatedly
brought to the nation's conscience recognition to and appreciation of
firefighters. Since Sept. 11, the image of a man with soot-smudged face, wearing
a brimmed helmet, yellow slicker and high-topped boots, evokes a hero. But
"sung" or not, firemen have always been heroes.
When I had interviewed him on September 11, 2001, Chief Louis Jones had said,
"We never know what to expect when we respond to emergencies, but responding to
emergencies without thought for ourselves is what firefighters do."
Rwm
(The Roswell Web Magazine regularly features
those who make a difference in this community. The first issue had the mayor;
the second paid tribute to RPD Chief Richard Campbell. From the beginning, we
intended the third issue to honor RFD Chief Louis Jones. However, we then could
never have believed it would be written like this. Rwm )
