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January 14, 2025

Anna Murray 

There are around 14,000 firefighters fighting the wildfires, including over 900 incarcerated individuals. Approximately thirty percent of the state's firemen are currently incarcerated.

Their daily wage can reach $10.24, and they get an extra $1 for each hour spent putting out the deadly fires. In addition, most of the offenders get time credits, which reduce their sentences by two days for every day they work on a fire crew.

Inmates have served as firemen for the state of California since the year 1915. The state established a fire camp program in 1946 to instruct prisoners in the art of firefighting.