Los Angeles, California- Because of this month, a series of wildfires in Southern California have caused unprecedented damage. Firefighters consisting of people currently and before are at the forefront of fighting to curb the flames.

California’s fire plan has long faced criticism of low salary and dangerous conditions for relying on the imprisoned workers.

However, supporters of the plan pointed out that in recent years, the state has taken measures to expand the prosecution firefighters to engage in occupations after release.

Captain of the National Fire Fighting Agency Cal Fire, Brian Conroy, recently led a firefighters who had previously been imprisoned and Kennis Fire and Palisid fire in the north of Los Angeles.

In the morning in mid -January, he explained that since October 2018, approximately 432 people have passed the fighter certification plan for parole (VTC) of the Ventura Training Center (VTC).

“This program is a plan,” said the tall man wearing a dark blue CAL Fire uniform, and the short -fat man Conlaoy said.

“These guys work well under pressure because they live under pressure.”

Imprisoned labor

According to the California State Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), about 1,747 workers who have been imprisoned live on 35 “protecting fire training camps” network. These camps were jointly managed by California’s Correctional Correction and Rehabilitation Department (CDCR) and Los Angeles County Fire Bureau.

In the camp, personal learning fire skills, such as cleaning brushes and processing heavy equipment to create fire lines. They are sometimes steep through California, and the difficult terrain has carried out nearly 30 kilograms (65 pounds) of gears to bring necessary physical exercise.

The role of those who are imprisoned in the state’s fire protection efforts are huge: Although numbers may change due to one year, the imprisoned firefighters can account for 30 % of the state fire forces in the state.

Supporters of the plan pointed out that this is voluntary, and those who participate can shave their sentences.

They also said that spending time working outdoors and engaging in the work that benefit the community is an attractive alternative to life. Conroy explained that many people found that the battle was full of vitality and exciting jobs.

“If you talk to some of these crew members, they will tell you that this is the best thing in history.”

Explosive wildfire

But this work is difficult and sometimes dangerous. The use of imprisoned workers provided a lot of cost savings for the state, thereby reviewing the motivation of the plan.

Amika Mota, Executive Director of the Sisters and Warriors Liberal Alliance, statement on Monday.

Mota itself is a prisoner of firefighters. Her organization hopes to provide greater fire safety for everyone in the California prison. She pointed out that when the wild fire treats prisons, the authorities sometimes slowly keep people away from harm.

She said, “They should get safe and safe.”

Critics also pointed out that the difference in salary is one of the disadvantages of the fire plan.

The salary of the imprisoned workers is only a small part of the salary received by the unsuccessful house. They get $ 5.80 to $ 10.24 a day, and this number may increase by $ 1 per hour when deploying fire.

Nevertheless, even if there is such a bump, the daily salary is only about $ 29.80 in the 24 -hour work.

In contrast, the monthly basic salary of CAL firefighters is between $ 3,672 and $ 4,643. The additional cost of “extending taxes of tax” is 1,824 to 2,306 US dollars, which is a period of time beyond the normal timetable.

Critics also pointed out that the need for additional fire lines is also increasing, which makes the imprisoned labor force more attractive to state officials.

The fire season in California is now all year round. For example, in January, it is usually not when the state sees a strong fire activity, but that no rainfall in a few months will bring conditions for the explosive fire growth of shrub jungle landscapes in the southern region.

On January 7, Palisades and Eaton broke out. The official reason for the fire was still unknown, but early speculation fell on faulty electrical equipment.

The strong winds of 160 kilometers (100 miles per hour) per hour help burn the flames and make them almost incompatible. They spread the buildings along the coastal area of ​​Pacific Palisades and the historic coastal areas, and the buildings were flattened on their road.

According to CAL Fire, Eaton Fire and Palisades Fire are now the second and third largest destructiveness in the history of the state, which destroyed 9,418 and 6,662 structures, respectively. At least 17 people were killed in Eaton fire, and 11 people were killed in Palisades.

“For those who for a long time, this destruction is a pill that is difficult to swallow.” “When someone loses the house, it is not just the house. This is everything they lose. This is the memory of childhood, photos on the wall. “

However, the status of the workers in charge of the flames and the compensation they received for this-continue to debate in California.

Legislative steps

In recent years, the state legislature has taken some measures to deal with some criticism and change the prison firefighter plan.

In September 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2147, which allowed the history of firefighters to be imprisoned to have a history of non -violent crimes to delete its records.

Conversely, this opened the opportunity for them to engage in occupations that may hinder criminal records, including professional fire protection and emergency services.

Senator who sponsored the bill, Eloise Gomez Reyes, told Peninsula TV in an email statement that the legislation aims to “ensure that once the imprisonment is developed, People have developed fire skills firefighters. “

This month, ISAAC BRYAN, a state parliament, also proposed legislation to ask the prison firefighters to pay the same hourly salary as the lowest salary firefighters.

The bill can be tried in the financial committee of the legislature as early as February 15.

Andrew Hernandez, 41, is at the Ventura Training Center to complete the plan and recently dispatched jobs to apply for a California fire. He said that when he first entered the prison, he Never thought that he would become a firefighter.

He smiled and said, “I will not guess within a million years.”

“Some of us have made a wrong decision. Some of us have done bad things. But I want to upgrade the sports field. I want to do some feedback.”