To date, roughly 6,000 fires have swept across more than 500,000 acres of land that was fueled up with new growth after the rainy winter. And the season is far from over.

On Thursday, at least a dozen large blazes were threatening property across the state, including areas near Weaverville, west of Redding; Oroville, east of Chico; Oakhurst, outside Yosemite National Park; and Springville, northeast of Bakersfield.

Jaime Lowe, a reporter for The New York Times Magazine, spent several weeks with female inmate firefighters for an article on the risks — and rewards — of the work.

It was published this week along with a photo essay. We caught up with Ms. Lowe by phone:

Q. This is demanding work for very little money. Why do they volunteer?

A. For one, general population prisons are overcrowded and horrible places to be in. So there’s a motivating factor in terms of the environment. I also think though that these women are pushing themselves and wanting the challenge of trying to do something positive.

Do they feel exploited by the low wages?

Some do and some don’t. A lot of women were just really happy to be there and happy to do the work. A couple of women expressed real dissatisfaction with the wages. And of course all of them would welcome an increase.