The state of California has been scourged by wildfires brought about by the historic four-year drought, and direly needs all the help it can get. Unbeknownst to many, 4,000 of the firefighters risking their lives to put out the widespread conflagration were people serving jail time from the state penitentiaries.
The volunteer inmates comprises around 40 percent of the 10,000 firefighters deployed to suppress the wildfires that have scorched hundreds of square miles of land recently. They are battling it out on the front lines, laying everything on the line amid the danger, and receiving a paltry wage in return amounting to $1 dollar per hour--- lower than the minimum wage of $9 dollars per hour received by civilian firefighters in California.
"When the inmates volunteer, we don't try to hide that fact [dangerous job]," spokesperson Bill Cessa of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) told ThinkProgress. "When you're actually in a fire--- this is not a small grass fire, these are fires with flames 100 feet tall."
These firefighters convicted of crimes less serious than a felony are part of a rehabilitation program referred to as Conservation Camps, which was initiated by the CDCR and they run in partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).
Inmates were carefully screened before they can be eligible to participate in a Conservation Camp. They must be physically fit and no history of violence. Those who will qualify for the program will undergo a month of training on physical fitness, and fire safety and suppression techniques, according to the CDCR website.
Apart from fire suppression, the inmate firefighters can also provide additional manpower in emergency cases such as flooding and earthquakes. They also do community service projects where they are paid approximately $1.45 to $3.90 per day for these projects.
The cheap labor provided by the inmate firefighters save the state of California more than $80 million in tax money every year.