The primary fireplace I bear in mind combating occurred within the dense mountains of Shasta-Trinity Nationwide Forest. Big ponderosa pines crashed down round us with little warning, weakened by fireplace and taking pictures off embers like fireflies in smoke.
It was one of many few instances in my life once I thought I would die at any second — which is saying one thing, as a result of I had already served 13 years in jail.
I used to be an incarcerated firefighter working within the shadows for $1 an hour and, like 1000’s of others, with out lots of the protections different firefighters obtain for placing our lives on the road.
Whereas the blazes in Los Angeles this 12 months illuminated this disparity for the primary time for many individuals, it has existed for a lot too lengthy.
California has relied on incarcerated firefighters since 1915, when the Conservation Camp Program started. Right now there are 35 conservation camps, also referred to as fireplace camps, throughout the state. Through the years, incarcerated individuals working in these camps have accounted for as a lot as a 3rd of California’s power combating wildfires, which develop bigger and extra horrible annually.
At one level whereas I used to be incarcerated, I labored 24-hour shifts for 42 straight days combating fireplace, earlier than I might relaxation at a base camp.
In 2018, in the course of the record-breaking fires in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, my fellow firefighters and I not solely protected individuals’s houses however had the painful job of in search of their our bodies within the aftermath of mudslides.
The work was mentally and bodily grueling, however we had a way of function and the prospect to do good.
As incarcerated firefighters, we had been informed very early on that we might doubtless be barred from serving on a metropolis, county, or state fireplace crew upon launch due to our data, although we’ve a few of the lowest recidivism charges within the state.
After I was inside, I felt all of the pleasure and satisfaction of working exhausting to assist my group. However once I was out of the hearth, the haze cleared, and I felt numb and exploited for the way little we needed to present for placing our lives on the road.
Like 1000’s of others, I received out of jail with a concrete set of expertise that I couldn’t use to rebuild my life or help my household. I needed to depend on them for a lot as a result of all of the work I had accomplished had paid so little.
Fortunately, because the California State Legislature considers payments to organize for and forestall future wildfires, they’re additionally honoring the vital and heroic work of incarcerated firefighters. One notably vital slate of seven payments this 12 months, the Firefighting to Freedom bundle, would make sure that incarcerated firefighters earn a fairer wage, dying advantages, and actual pathways to reentry.
When the following fireplace erupts, these incarcerated firefighters might be positioned on the foot of the flames, simply as I used to be years in the past.
They are going to hike into burning landscapes the place bulldozers can’t journey, create containment strains to cease the unfold of fires that break report after report and attempt to survive whereas saving untold lives.
Between lively fires they may clear brush to forestall future flames, work to avert lethal mudslides and assist Californians flood-proof their houses. And with important fireplace prevention hampered by the Nationwide Guard’s deployment to Los Angeles this 12 months, their work might be extra wanted — and extra harmful — than ever. They’re heroes.
Investing of their future by passing the Firefighting to Freedom bundle is not only a matter of equity — it’s an funding within the well being and security of all Californians.
I would like the incarcerated firefighters of at this time and tomorrow to get the help they should come house and proceed serving to our communities. Their work will get extra harmful annually, as California fires get fiercer and extra frequent.
Andony Corleto is a former incarcerated firefighter who now works as a program affiliate for Vera California, a part of the Vera Institute of Justice. He wrote this column for CalMatters.
