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$1 an Hour to Fight Largest Fire in CA History: Are Prison Firefighting Programs Slave Labor?

The recent fires in Butte County, California, has killed at least 29 people and left more than 200 people unaccounted for, making it the deadliest wildfire in California’s history according to The New York Times. This is just one of many fires that have affected Southern California over the history of the state.

Earlier this year the Mendocino Complex Fire scorched approximately 350,000 acres of northern California and destroyed over 146 homes according to CNBC.

There were 14,000 firefighters who battled the Mendocino fires among those were 2,000 inmates. About 200 inmate firefighters are assisting with the Butte County Camp Fire burning according to a local ABC affiliate.

Today, more than 2,000 volunteer inmate firefighters, including 58 youth offenders, are battling wildfire flames throughout CA. Inmate firefighters serve a vital role, clearing thick brush down to bare soil to stop the fire's spread. #CarrFire #FergusonFire #MendocinoComplex — CA Corrections (@CACorrections) July 31, 2018

The inmates who help fight the fires are apart of a volunteer firefighting program run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Inmates are paid $2 a day, and $1 an hour when fighting an active fire. They also earn time off their sentences.

“Each volunteer inmate is evaluated individually to ensure that all those selected for the camp program are willing to be team members with nonviolent behavior, even if their original conviction was for a violent crime,” CDCR representative CNBC. Volunteer inmate must have “minimum custody” status and are not considered if they have committed arson, rape or sex offenses, or if they have any active warrants or medical issues.

The program dates back to 1915 allow inmate volunteers live in “conservation camps” and do physical labor, like cutting brush and trees to reduce fire danger, clearing flood channels and storm drains, and maintaining hiking trails.

However, critics of the program believe the state is exploiting prisoner labor and eagerness to earn time off their sentences. They cite is unfair that salary paid firefighters to earn an annual mean wage of $74,000 plus benefits while inmates earn $2 per day with an additional $1 per hour when fighting an active fire.

During an interview on Democracy Now, an independent news program, Amy Goodman asked Deirdre Wilson, former program coordinator for the California Coalition for Women Prisoners “Some have criticized this as slave labor. Your thoughts?”

Wilson said “…If the intention was really to rehabilitate and set people up for success once they’re released, they would have a program, say, where people that had had the training had some kind of continued interim training where they were supported specifically in their situations to go on and have a career. But that does not exist. People fall through the cracks because the intention is really to make use of this labor that the state is saving $100 million on.”

Others have criticized this program because it puts inmates in harm’s way. According to NPR, six firefighters lost their lives battling the wildfires in this region in August. David Fathi, director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project told WBUR, “When prisoners do volunteer to work, it’s especially important that we make absolutely sure that they’re making a free and uncoerced and truly voluntary choice. That’s especially important when the work they’re doing is very dangerous, like fighting wildfires.”

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