In abstract
State prisoners have lengthy been part of California’s firefighting pressure. A whole bunch of them now are deployed in Los Angeles County.
About 800 incarcerated firefighters are battling the unprecedented fires raging throughout Southern California, based on the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. They be part of hundreds of firefighting and emergency personnel who’ve been dispatched to reply to a number of fires all through the Los Angeles space.
California’s incarcerated firefighters have lengthy offered vital help to state, native and federal authorities businesses in responding to numerous emergencies, together with wildfires and floods.
Over 1,800 incarcerated firefighters dwell year-round in minimum-security conservation camps, often known as “fire camps,” positioned throughout 25 counties in California, based on the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. These numbers have dwindled lately on account of a declining jail inhabitants.
“Wildfires are a constant and formidable challenge for California, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations’ conservation fire camps remain dedicated to supporting the state’s response,” mentioned Jeff Macomber, secretary of California’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation in a press release to CalMatters on Wednesday. “The work of our incarcerated firefighters and staff is an essential part of this effort, and their commitment to protecting lives and property during these emergencies cannot be overstated.”
The corrections division compensates incarcerated firefighters anyplace between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, relying upon expertise. Throughout lively emergencies, the Cal Hearth pays incarcerated firefighters a further $1 per day, based on the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Over the course of three fireplace seasons, Princess Griffen fought greater than 30 fires. The 32-year-old, previously incarcerated firefighter was based mostly on the Rainbow Conservation Camp, which has since closed, when the Woolsey Hearth in Malibu broke out in November 2018.
“At camp, when it got windy, we would sleep with our boots on,” she mentioned. She and her crew of 14 have been deployed for 2 weeks. “It felt like you were doing something that mattered instead of rotting away in a cell,” she mentioned.
Griffen paroled in July 2019. In the present day she lives in Inglewood, the place she owns a tattoo store. She pursued a profession as an entrepreneur as a result of she knew firefighting would require extra time away from dwelling. However for incarcerated firefighters who wish to proceed the work upon their launch, Griffen says it’s troublesome to get employed.
“They look at our education like it doesn’t count,” she mentioned. “For people who have found some kind of purpose or solace within firefighting, there needs to be a pipeline that goes straight from the prisons to firefighting. I’d urge the government to give inmates a second chance, considering that they are fighting these fires for pennies – risking their lives for pennies.”
