Over 900 prison inmates are among the more than 7,500 emergency personnel fighting the raging wildfires that are devastating portions of Los Angeles, California, state corrections officials said.
“As of today, 939 Fire Camp firefighters have been working around the clock cutting fire lines and removing fuel from behind structures to slow fire spread, including 110 support staff.,” California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) told NPR on Friday.
Though California has been utilizing incarcerated firefighters — and other laborers — for over 100 years, the practice is controversial and has been banned in Colorado, Vermont, Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Oregon and Tennessee in recent years, according to Jurist News.
Inmates in states that allow it, including California, are often paid little to no money for hours of strenuous work, though the U.S. Constitution’s Thirteenth Amendment makes it clear that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude” is legal, “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
According to the CDRC, inmates are part of the fire brigade program voluntarily, and are paid just $5.80 to $10.24 per day, with additional pay being supplied during emergencies.
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/nx-s1-5254122/inmate-firefighters-california-wildfires
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