The Conservation (Fire) Camp Program, jointly run by California's corrections and fire departments, trains inmates to fight wildfires and respond to other emergencies. Inmate firefighters earn ...

These minimum-security inmates, participants in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Fire Camp Program, are playing a critical role in slowing the spread of fires in ...

About 900 of them are prison inmates. Multiple blazes in the Los Angeles region have burned more than 40,000 acres, killed at least 24 people and displaced more than 100,000 others in less than one ...

While California promotes the program as a path to rehabilitation, the economics tell a different story. L.A. Fire Department firefighters earn between $85,784 and $124,549 per year with benefits, but ...

Critics say using incarcerated men and women to fight fires is cheap labour, but supporters say it is rehabilitative.

As wildfires continue to devastate Southern California, thousands of first responders are on the ground, trying to get the destruction under control. About 900 of them are prison inmates.

Over 1,100 California inmates have been working around the clock in challenging conditions - including howling winds and toxic smoke - to help Cal Fire battle the Eaton and Palisades fires ...

The history of enslaved firefighters offers a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on involuntary labor to fight ...

California's program is not without controversy, as the inmates are paid little for dangerous and difficult work. Many participants, however, say they appreciated the opportunity.

As the disastrous infernos destroy neighborhoods in Southern California, over 1,000 prisoners are working as “volunteer firefighters” to help extinguish the blazes.

started a fundraiser on Friday to support the fire crews of California’s prisons. Jan. 11, 2025 Other considerations belong in the discussion of helping inmate firefighters, including that they ...

An inmate serving a 16-year sentence for firearms charges was apprehended Thursday morning after he walked away from the ...