Firefighter Scott Jones, born and raised in Kennett, Mo., has been with the fire department since 2016. Scott said he believes in the importance of mental health and self-care for first responders. For him, stress relief takes the form of woodworking and spending time with his family to decompress.
Emergency response often entails caring for someone he knows when they are in distress. There have been four deaths in Kennett’s first responder community in the past four years, including Jones’ mentor and close friend from the fire department, Capt. Robert Moore. Robert’s death is, in part, why Jones believes he lives with symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Despite the challenges, Jones loves being a firefighter.
“At any given moment, my skills, passion and knowledge may transform someone’s worst day ever into a day that is just a little better,” he said.
Firefighter Scott Jones, 42, left, and his brother, Lt. Paramedic Matt Jones, 36, sit in silence on the front bumper of a fire engine after daybreak at Fire Station No. 2 in Kennett, Mo. Scott works the standard department shift of 24 hours on, from 8 a.m. to 8 a.m., followed by 48 hours off. The erratic nature of the first responders’ job, along with occasional traumatic experiences, can take a toll on them both mentally and physically. “Some people call us heroes,” Scott said, “but we aren’t superheroes.”
Scott, gives his wife, 41-year-old Stephanie Jones, a kiss before leaving to meet his daughter, Aubry, and his granddaughter, Oakley, at the Delta Fair. Stephani, Scott’s second wife, and he were married in 2022. The two met back in 1988 as young children. Scott has three daughters — Aubry, Leslie and Alexis — from a previous marriage and two stepchildren, Cassidy and Natalie, from Stephanie’s previous relationship.
Scott plays with 23-months-old Bentley Johnson, the son of a family friend. Scott and Stephanie consider Bentley and his baby sister, Octavia, part of their family, referring to them as their grandchildren. They care for the young children a few times per month.
Scott informs a paramedic of the weather conditions before transporting a young man to the helipad for air transportation to a hospital. “At any given moment, my skills, passion and knowledge may transform someone’s worst day ever into a day that is just a little better,” Scott said of what he enjoys most about his profession.
Scott waves to fellow firefighters driving the tower truck down St. Francis Street at the Delta Fair Parade. He has attended the parade in one fashion or another since he was 5 years old. He’s participated in the parade several times throughout the years, including as a member of the high school marching band in 1999, with the Abundant Life Church, with the Kennett all-star baseball team in the Junior Babe Ruth League and driving a fire engine for the Kennett Fire Department.
Stephanie and Scott talk inside Scott’s cramped and dilapidated woodshop as he works on a wooden jewelry box. In the evenings, they sit and talk in the woodshop. They talk about life, future plans and what they can do to make things better as they “age together.”
Scott admires the grain and crotch formations of a wooden jewelry box after applying a lacquer finish. Woodworking has become cathartic for him. He said he enjoys “seeing rough wood turn into something pretty.” The entire process of woodworking is calming for him. Scott said soon as he begins, his mind becomes focused and free.
Scott turns a chess piece on the lathe. His wedding ring depicts a thin red line, which represents support and solidarity to honor injured and fallen firefighters. Scott is committed to supporting first responders and raising awareness for mental health. He is the president and co-founder of The Thin Line State of Mind, a nonprofit established “to provide immediate and ongoing support and financial assistance” for the first responder community and its families coping with a mental health crisis or its effects.
Scott drives a fire engine to respond to an early morning medical emergency. As a licensed practical nurse, he provides basic medical care until emergency medical technicians or paramedics arrive on scene. “Nobody should ever have to use the jaws [of life] to pull a 2-year-old’s limp body out of a car or tell a woman her husband has been decapitated and is no longer with her,” Scott said as he reflects on some experiences he has had as a firefighter.
Scott laughs along with members of his family as his 1-year-old granddaughter, Oakley, tries cotton candy for the first time on at the Delta Fair. Along with woodworking, spending time with his family helps Jones cope with the rigors of his difficult, albeit critical and rewarding, career. First responders find themselves in a pendulum swing of “stress to decompress and back again,” Scott said. “That’s our cycle.”