For almost eighty years, California has relied on incarcerated fire fighters, but declining numbers of incarcerated persons has reduced fire camps to operate at half capacity or less.
A new two-year pilot program would boost the pipeline for new for younger incarcerated firefighters, the state hoped, according to an article by Maya Miller in the Sacramento Bee.
“Without a doubt, if there is a program within the state that can help somebody go from an incarcerated life to never coming back to an incarcerated life, this is the program that can do it,” said Captain Fred Money, the CDCR’s liaison for the camps for incarcerated firefighters, as quoted in the article.
As of May 30, Cal Fire had only 126 of its budgeted 236 “hand crews” fully staffed. The Bee said hand crews consisted of teams of 15 to 20 mostly incarcerated firefighters who clear perimeters of vegetation to prevent the spreading of flames.
An expansion of the CDCR’s Youth Offender Program changed staffing of such crews to allow participation by qualified incarcerated persons under the age of 26, said the article. The Bee quoted the CDCR as saying the program would promote “rehabilitation and provide important job skills.” In April, the CDCR adopted new regulations that doubled wages for incarcerated firefighters to $6 to $10 a day.
The first group of 30 incarcerated persons arrived with their mentors at the Growlersburg Conservation Center in Georgetown in November. Many of them came from Valley State Prison in Chowchilla.
Incarcerated firefighter Branden Lee Lerma, 23, arrived in Growlersburg in November. The article said his eight-hour days included trail maintenance and restoration, cutting overgrowth and foliage to improve visibility on roadways, and to facilitate controlled burns.
“I used to hurt my community, and now I just want to give back,” the article quoted Lerma, “I’m tired of destroying. I want to build something with my hands.”
Lerma said he hoped for the work to reduce his sentence. The article said time served at fire camps made participants eligible for credits. After release, Lerma said he would like to find work as a seasonal firefighter at Cal Fire.
Formerly incarcerated person Esteban Nuñez, now a political strategist and lobbyist at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, said fire camps presented the ultimate opportunity for restorative justice, giving incarcerated persons “a different understanding of what it means to protect your community.” Nuñez said he hoped the state would continue full funding for the program.
