More than 1,000 inmates are currently battling wildfires as part of California’s Conservation Fire Camp Program.
California’s prisoners make up 30% of the state’s entire fighting force, though sentencing and prison reforms have cut the number of participants in half since last year.
Participants are low-risk inmates who are paid a maximum of $26 a day and get two days off their prison sentence for each full day they serve.
The program has been a source of controversy for years, as inmates are eight times more likely to be seriously injured and are often given used and inadequate tools.
They can’t sue if they’re injured due to neglect, and their family’s can’t receive death benefits if they’re killed in service.
Worse still, they can’t even get jobs as firefighters once they’re free — even if they spent years on the frontlines. First, they would have to get their records expunged — a time-consuming and often expensive process that takes months to years.
Here’s a five-minute rundown on the key points.
I worked on Southern California Edison's Hydroelectric dams in the 1980s. Even back then there were inmate firefighters.