California's inmate firefighters help fire crews battle the state's massive wildfires while working to reduce their prison sentences.
"They're like the infantry of CAL FIRE," District Commander John Owens told KSBY-TV. "They do a lot of hard work. They hike the hills and get in places where the bulldozers can't and fire engines can't and put hand-line in."
But state justice reforms, which diverts low-level offenders away from prison, are reducing the pool of eligible candidates, the TV station reports. To become a firefighter, an inmate must be a nonviolent offender.
"We have five crews normally. Right now we have four crews," Owens added. "We're short 25 inmate firefighters, but our system overall is short 1,300 firefighters in the entire state."
One way CAL FIRE San Luis Obispo is dealing with diminished inmate firefighter candidates is by starting its own probation program. In this program, individuals on probation can serve court-ordered supervision as a firefighter as a way toward making it a career, KSBY reports.
