From the age of three, Jason knew that he was going to be a firefighter. At the age of fourteen Jason became a Fire Explorer with the City of Adelanto Fire Department. He began his training at Victor Valley College where he trained to be a wildland firefighter, taking every fire service course he could sign up for. Eventually, he graduated with an Associate Degree in Fire Technology, joined the Mojave Greens fire fighting crew before moving over to the U.S. Forest Service in 2001. Jason McKay gave his life along with four of his USFS brothers battling the Esperanza Fire.