Respect for Incarcerated Firefighters
Hardships faced by incarcerated firefighters and how they should be given an equal opportunity.
Jeania Joseph
Carlos is frantically running to a house with a water hose trying to cover the whole structure with water. Though he isn’t wearing a usual firefighter uniform. In fact, his uniform is bright orange, and so are the other men with him.
Incarcerated firefighters, which are prisoners that voluntarily join a state program to fight off fires and complete other duties of firemen, have been around since 1915. But the real question is are they getting the same benefits as firefighters without the troubling background?
Prisoners who join the state program are getting paid less than their counterparts. The average firefighter makes about $22.95 per hour. “The [incarcerated] fire crew earns $5.80 to $10.24 per day depending on their skill set,” according to an article for Fortune.
While both are completing the same amount of work, firefighters are placed in dangerous positions all throughout the shift. Yet, inmates have seemed to be forgotten about.
“We were exhausted from the 14-hour days, rough, near vertical terrain, and light, fitful sleep,” said Joshua Bligh, an inmate firefighter in 2012 and 2015, in an interview for International Association of Wildland Fire.
U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Brian Ferguson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Common
Incarcerated firefighters are picked through those who volunteer, and their health has to meet specific standards to be accepted.
They must also have the least restrictive custody with good behavior. And have a short sentence remaining in some instances.
Prisoners with more serious convictions such as crimes with sexual violence. Crimes against children are a big no. And an unsurprising one: arson.
These experiences can be traumatic for the prisoner, just like non-incarcerated firefighters. And the prisoners aren't guaranteed a job once released from prison.
"Cal Fire trains formerly incarcerated firefighters, providing a pathway to jobs,” according to an article for The Guardian.
But getting a job as a firefighter with a criminal background isn't so easy. In the past, many left prisons with nowhere to go. Then, getting the proper certifications to get hired costs thousands of dollars.
This leaves prisoners stuck in a spot where they have experience but no place to showcase it—leading them back to a life of crime to stay on their feet.