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Earth Government

California's Wildfires Still Burn. Prison Inmates Join the Fight (npr.org) 101

As an ecological disaster devastated two coastal California cities, more than 7,500 firefighters pushed back against the wildfires. 900 of them are inmates, reports NPR. That's about 12%: California is one of more than a dozen states that operates conservation camps, commonly known as fire camps, for incarcerated people to train to fight fires and respond to other disasters... There are now 35 such camps in California, all of which are minimum-security facilities... When they are not fighting fires, they also respond to floods and other disasters and emergencies. Otherwise, the crews do community service work in areas close to their camp, according to the state corrections department...

A 2018 Time investigation found that incarcerated firefighters are at a higher risk for serious injuries. They also are more than four times as likely to get cuts, bruises or broken bones compared to professional firefighters working the same fires, the report found. They were also more than eight times as likely to face injuries after inhaling smoke, ash and other debris compared with other firefighters, the report said.

"Two of the camps are for incarcerated women," reports the BBC. One of them — since released — remembers that "It felt like you were doing something that mattered instead of rotting away in a cell," according to the nonprofit new site CalMatters. They can also earn credits that help reduce their prison sentences, the BBC learned from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Friday one local California news report shared the perspective of formerly incarcerated Californian, Matthew Hahn (from a 2021 Washington Post column). "Yes, the decision to take part is largely made under duress, given the alternative. Yes, incarcerated firefighters are paid pennies for an invaluable task. And yes, it is difficult though not impossible for participants to become firefighters after leaving prison," Hahn said. "Despite this, fire camps remain the most humane places to do time in the California prison system."
From that 2021 Washington Post column: California prisons have, on average, three times the murder rate of the country overall and twice the rate of all American prisons. These figures don't take into account the sheer number of physical assaults that occur behind prison walls. Prison feels like a dangerous place because it is. Whether it's individual assaults or large-scale riots, the potential for violence is ever-present. Fire camp represents a reprieve from that risk. Sure, people can die in fire camp as well — at least three convict-firefighters have died working to contain fires in California since 2017 — but the threat doesn't weigh on the mind like the prospect of being murdered by a fellow prisoner. I will never forget the relief I felt the day I set foot in a fire camp in Los Angeles County, like an enormous burden had been lifted...

[When his 12-man crew was called to fight the Jesusita Fire], the fire had ignited one home's deck and was slowly burning its way to the structure. We cut the deck off the house, saving the home. I often fantasize about the owners returning to see it still standing, unaware and probably unconcerned that an incarcerated fire crew had saved it. There was satisfaction in knowing that our work was as valuable as that of any other firefighter working the blaze and that the gratitude expressed toward first responders included us.

There are other reasons for prisoners to choose fire camp if given the opportunity. They are often located in secluded natural settings, giving inmates the chance to live in an environment that doesn't remotely resemble a prison. There are no walls, and sometimes there aren't even fences. Gun towers are conspicuously absent, and the guards aren't even armed.... [C]onsider the guy pushing a broom in his cell block making the equivalent of one Top Ramen noodle packet per day, just so he can have the privilege of making a collect call to his mother. Or think of the man scrubbing the streaks out of the guards' toilets, making seven cents an hour, half of which goes to pay court fees and restitution, just so he can have those couple of hours outside his cage for the day...

So, while we may have faced the heat of a wildfire for a few bucks a day, and we may have saved a few homes and been happy doing so, understand that we were rational actors. We wanted to be there, where some of our dignity was returned to us.

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California's Wildfires Still Burn. Prison Inmates Join the Fight

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  • by ClickOnThis ( 137803 ) on Sunday January 12, 2025 @01:19PM (#65083217) Journal

    I saw this in TFA:

    A 2018 Time investigation found that incarcerated firefighters are at a higher risk for serious injuries. They also are more than four times as likely to get cuts, bruises or broken bones compared to professional firefighters working the same fires, the report found. They were also more than eight times as likely to face injuries after inhaling smoke, ash and other debris compared with other firefighters, the report said.

    When I saw this, I thought the incarcerated firefighters were poorly trained, poorly conditioned, poorly equipped, or poorly disciplined. Perhaps a combination of these. But the paragraph below this one in the linked article clarifies things:

    Civilian firefighters had their own predominant risks, the data obtained by TIME shows. They were about nine times as likely to experience burns and about twice as likely to experience heat-related illnesses like dehydration. That is not surprising, given that they are the ones extinguishing the flames, while inmates reduce the likelihood that the fires will spread by clearing the thick brush nearby.

    So, it appears inmates are more likely to experience certain kinds of injuries because of the division of responsibility on the field. And so are civilian firefighters.

    Civilian or inmate, be safe out there folks, and all good wishes for success. This is a tragedy and you're helping to relieve it.

  • Still safer (Score:4, Interesting)

    by zawarski ( 1381571 ) on Sunday January 12, 2025 @01:32PM (#65083233)
    Than a prison rodeo.
  • by Gavino ( 560149 ) on Sunday January 12, 2025 @03:21PM (#65083375)
    They've also arrested dozens of people for looting. It's a circular economy!
  • I have friends who have done time in the Conservation Camps. I also have had friends who have worked for CalFire. The difference in conditions between the two is pay, and alcohol. Both jobs are dangerous. Both jobs involve sitting at a remote location preparing and waiting to run in to an active fire. The friends who were in the conservation camps ALL say they are glad the spent time there.

  • by kenh ( 9056 ) on Sunday January 12, 2025 @04:16PM (#65083497) Homepage Journal

    2018 Time investigation found that incarcerated firefighters are at a higher risk for serious injuries. They also are more than four times as likely to get cuts, bruises or broken bones compared to professional firefighters working the same fires, the report found. They were also more than eight times as likely to face injuries after inhaling smoke, ash and other debris compared with other firefighters, the report said.

    Unless the incarcerated workers have the exact same training and years of experience as the professional (career) firefighters, then they will obviously get injured more frequently than the career professionals.

    It's a dangerous job, and the lesser-experienced workers will certainly be more likely to get injured working the fire lines.

    Bottom line, it's a good program - the convicts get to learn a skill, benefit the community, and hopefully avoid recidivism. The real question is how many former convict firefighters enter the professional firefighter workforce after they've served their time?

    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      The real question is how many former convict firefighters enter the professional firefighter workforce after they've served their time?

      From TFS:

      "And yes, it is difficult though not impossible for participants to become firefighters after leaving prison," Hahn said.

      Evidently, not many. But, it appears that it's something to do that is more rewarding than sitting in their cells, rotting. And although they are at greater risk of injury on the fire line than professionals, it might still be less than the risk of getting shivved in the prison cafeteria line.

      • That's really too bad. I assume the difficulty is a felony prison record pushing their application to the bottom of the pile.
    • They can extiguish the fires with their bodies. Also their bodies forming a giant ball can penetrate the flames, only the outermost bodies will be scorched, the core will survive, and can continue their mission.
    • Some underlying confounding factors would probably be difficult to account for. For instance, the incarcerated firefights are likely less risk averse.
    • Until 2020 it was impossible for them to become firefighters. Anyone with a felony conviction couldn't become an EMT, which is a prerequisite for most firefighting jobs. In 2020 the law was changed [npr.org] so that inmate firefighters can get their record expunged after release.

  • Having read TFS, I'm not clear on exactly what point the author thinks they're making (or are attempting to make).

  • by Anonymous Coward
    and Kamala is already back to her old tricks locking people up to use as cheap labor in the prison system. /s
  • by OneOfMany07 ( 4921667 ) on Sunday January 12, 2025 @09:46PM (#65084029)

    They're our society's slaves. At least part of the underclass.

    Or what would you call someone who cannot leave and you point them at a blazing fire? Why would they choose to help you?

    • Paying someone to put their life on the line for every call should be impossible, but we manage to do it. Motivation in the public service has been extensively studied. IMHO, it usually boils down to two reasons: a desire to serve the public, or it's better than the alternative. And yes, I agree these inmates are slaves if they aren't making at least minimum wage.
    • READ The 13th Amendment to the constitution; it only bans private slavery. It's got a wide loophole for prison or military use and with a corrupt supreme court (like we have,) it could be ridiculously "interpreted" beyond reason (which has already been demonstrated.)

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