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2,500 Inmates Help Fight California Fires

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime & Justice News

"More than 1 in 10 firefighters at the Basin Complex -

California's biggest ongoing forest fire - are trained

state prisoners, says the Christian Science Monitor.

Despite the danger and 24-hour shifts involving 3,000-

foot climbs with 40-pound packs, some inmates push

on. 'Plenty of times I've wanted to quit," says one. "It

teaches you to persevere.' With 2,500 trained

prisoners fighting fires, California's inmate firefighting

program has proved invaluable as the state struggles

to throw enough manpower at this year's lightning-

strike siege.

For prisoners in the 60-year-old program, firefighting

fosters new growth in their character. The program

has had few escapes or incidents of misbehavior. "I

don't worry too much. When the bell rings, they are

firemen and they act like firemen," says Mike Parry, a

crew technical specialist with the state agency CAL

FIRE. 'The inmates, at least in our camp, really never

let me down on a fire. Inmates are paid $1 an hour for '

fighting fires and get time shaved off their sentences.

Non-inmate labor goes for $10 to $12 an hour, not

counting overtime. The voluntary program sets some

requirements: no arsonists, sex offenders, or high-

level prisoners. Graduates must pass tests of

physical stamina and firefighting basics. The program

saves California taxpayers more than $80 million

annually on average. The use of prison labor in the

U.S. has expanded with the growing ranks of inmates

and a general loosening of the rules governing the

practice, says Noah Zatz, a law professor at University

of California Los Angeles."

Christian Science Monitor - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OezDVQDJ2aCvevaYA5txwOaNN7QzU0oeMQSfMHFHhrjIKcfuTYQifZPLHYZrd10_3rHZ8tMLz5vH0J1P47guLNcYjB7jNtjin5sAmYwx8H4aZ3YQweFMQi2iwitc2YuZZgX8sSGeawL2m8f8SjJ06FOjHedG65ZC

 

 

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on July 11, 2008 (boomark / email).