Source: Washington Post
by Stephen Slivinski
“Earlier this year, the Palisade and Eaton wildfires near Los Angeles were fought by an army of over 4,000 California state firefighters, alongside thousands of other support personnel. Within that number were more than 780 inmates from state prisons enrolled in the state’s ‘fire camp’ program, which has been operational since World War II. This program provides essential assistance to frontline wildfire containment efforts, as well as providing valuable training to inmates looking for skills — including first aid — they can use to help find work after finishing their sentences. But those released from California prisons would, for many years, run into one of several brick walls. Some couldn’t be hired as a firefighter at municipal-level firehouses because of their prison records. Others might have qualified for firefighter certification but couldn’t obtain an EMT license, a requirement for many firefighter jobs.” (12/03/25)