Hundreds of California prison inmates grapple with wildfires and stigma
Nearly 1,000 incarcerated men and women have joined the front lines in the fight against record-breaking wildfires in Southern California.
The deployed number – now 939 – is part of a long-running volunteer program led by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
Their numbers have risen steadily since Tuesday, the day the deadly fires began spreading out of control in Los Angeles.
More than 10,000 structures have been destroyed and 37,000 acres have burned, as thousands of emergency personnel descended on the Los Angeles area to fight the blaze.
At least 11 people have died in the wildfire, officials said.
Prison firefighters are selected from 35 state-run conservation fire camps, minimum security facilities, where inmates spend their time and receive training. Two of these camps are for imprisoned women.
The more than 900 prisoner-firefighters in use in the scheme make up nearly half of the 1,870 prisoner-firefighters in use.
In the field, he can be seen in prison-orange jumpsuits with members of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
CDCR told the BBC in an emailed statement that prison firefighters were working around the clock to cut fire lines and remove fuel from behind structures to prevent the fire from spreading.
The program, which has been in place since 1946, has divided critics, who consider it exploitative, and supporters, who say it is rehabilitative.
The state pays prisoners a daily wage of between $5.80 and $10.24 (£4.75 and £8.38), and an additional $1 per day if assigned to an active emergency.
This salary is a fraction of that received by civilian firefighters in California, who can earn more than $100,000 annually.
“Compared to other people with you, you’re getting paid. You’re just cheap labor,” said Royal Ramey, a former incarcerated firefighter and co-founder of the nonprofit Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP). BBC.
“And if you die fighting the fire, you will not get any benefit from it,” he added.
He said, “You won’t get any awards. You won’t be recognized as a wildland firefighter.” He said that he would remember in the field that he had already signed his death certificate.
Still, Mr. Ramey said the low wages are higher than a California inmate would otherwise earn performing jobs in the state’s prisons.
Compared to California’s notoriously dangerous and overcrowded prisons, conservation camps and their “park, picnic-type feel” also offer additional amenities, such as better food, he said.
“It’s definitely a better living situation,” he said.
CDRC said camp participants can also earn time credits that help reduce their jail sentences.
Prisoners convicted of crimes classified as “serious” or “violent” crimes are not eligible to participate.
Mr Ramey said that after incarcerated firefighters are released from prison – trained by the state – many try to get hired as civilian firefighters, but are turned down.
He said, “It’s a stigma. When people think of firefighters they think of some clean-cut guy, a hero, not someone who was locked up.”
He started his nonprofit to help formerly incarcerated firefighters overcome barriers and address the firefighter shortage California has faced for years.
Five wildfires are currently burning billions of dollars worth of buildings in the Los Angeles area, projected to be one of the costliest in history.
With resources strained, the state has called in more than 7,500 emergency personnel and first responders, including the state and National Guard and firefighters from as far away as Canada.
The fires are still difficult to contain and spread, with the two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, having already burned 35,000 acres.
Additional reporting by Claire Betzer
