Firefighting felons: Hundreds of inmates battling the Yosemite blaze

They swing the same Pulaskis, buzz the same chainsaws and face the same dangers.

But 673 of the wildland firefighters battling the ferocious blaze around Yosemite National Park have something that other hotshot crew members do not: a prison identification number.

They're part of California's conservation camp program, which takes convicts out of jail cells and puts them on the front lines of wildfires, where they earn $1 an hour cutting containment lines that keep flames from spreading.

I feel this is a good opportunity to steer some non-violent offenders into a positive path.
Inmates could be utilized in many other fields to do the jobs nobody else will do.
It can provide a sense of worth and work ethic that will serve them into their future.

Link: news.ca.msn.com...

$1 an hour is too much i hope that income is taxed and they after buy their own prison food and pay for their own electricity.

reply to post by SupersonicSerpent


That's a bit cold blooded, isn't it? I can see a hard attitude about license plate makers or such, but prisoners working the fire line???? Have you ever been on a fire line in the summer or seen it from more than TV reports???

Growing up in So. Cal, it's a seasonal thing for everyone to see. I respect the hell out of the prisoners who are out there doing this and nothing in the world says they HAVE to. $1/hr or whatever they are seeing in the end sure isn't doing it for money.

They could just tell society, hoping even their little $1 gets taxed away from them, to go to hell and sit ..while our homes, forests and businesses burn to the ground. Why should they lift a finger? I'd say we ought to thank them..not hope they have more misery at the moment they are insuring less misery comes to others.

Originally posted by SupersonicSerpent
$1 an hour is too much i hope that income is taxed and they after buy their own prison food and pay for their own electricity.

Damn that's harsh.

I wouldn't piss in the direction of a fire for 65 pence.

Non violent criminals risking their life for a dollar a hour, and you want them to literally do it for nothing?

Maybe civilians should be made to be firefighters for peanuts too? give them 2 dollar 50 cent for it.

They are volunteers, they want to help. They are certainly not getting rich off it. I find this much more noble than making them make military supplies and license plates. In this way they are doing a service to the nation.

Just to add I am not a firefighter, but if my neighborhood was threatened by fire I would do my damn best to put the fire out. Doing it for a living or any kind of finance then I'd be expecting to earn at least minimal wage.

When the convicts are paroled, they leave with skills that, as the Rim Fire shows, are always in demand. Officials could not provide figures but said CalFire does hire ex-prisoners from the program.

IF this is true, then I'm all for this program.
Unfortunately, not many companies will not hire a felon or ex-con, so they fall back into their life of crime

reply to post by wrabbit2000


lol i was joking but it wouldn't surprise me if they did start taxing them,after all before they get put back into society they must learn to pay taxes.

Originally posted by SupersonicSerpent
reply to post by wrabbit2000

 

lol i was joking but it wouldn't surprise me if they did start taxing them,after all before they get put back into society they must learn to pay taxes.

They need to be able to FIND JOBS first in order to PAY those taxes....

Take 10% off their sentance for each full season they put on the fire line without problems.
Keep the cash.

What would be nice for the non violent offenders risking their lives for this is some kind of job placement afterwards. They are getting hands on experience and it would seem that maybe the one timers who screwed up now have training in fire fighting. If there was a way to allow this to turn into an actual job on the outside, it would greatly reduce the risk of re-incarceration.

Business as usually. Who knows the owners of the prisons may even start competing with the real firemen for the job, as a majority of prisons are privatized. And seeing as there workers would do it for a fraction of the cost. One day we may have fireman doing the good ol "they took our jobzz" skit. But seriously they are already pretty much indentured slaves, now they get the pleasure of putting out fires while the prisons make money and probably charge the same fee a real fire district would, of which only .01% of it would be passed on to these new breed of firefighters.

Non violent criminals, so I take it a majority of them got busted smoking or selling weed and other hardcore drugs, or maybe missed a bill on there car or house and had to take some drastic measures. I mean this may help there resume when they get out, most likely not as even if your a citizen with no record what so ever you practically have to know someone to get, so its just as likely that this is more of the same business as usual then any altruistic motives. Because few who are in the system actually leave the system completely, its a job and cycle in and withing itself and in some cases its harder to get out of it, then it is to get out of the mafia. But we shall see what comes of it. If somewhere down the line you see firefighters bidding and competing with prison systems for jobs, well you know what was really going on. Don't think it will happen to that degree, if anything this may just be the states cheep and less costly $ answer to fighting those wildfires which come every and each year.

Originally posted by bknapple32
What would be nice for the non violent offenders risking their lives for this is some kind of job placement afterwards. They are getting hands on experience and it would seem that maybe the one timers who screwed up now have training in fire fighting. If there was a way to allow this to turn into an actual job on the outside, it would greatly reduce the risk of re-incarceration.

Makes perfect sense to me

Something to put on their CV so to speak, I am a strong believer that society should make more effort in re-introducing criminals to society. Having people living in a hell hole wasting away is not productive in any way. I support making them work but do it in a way that instills moral value, make sure they are learning skills that are useful to society.

Most of all teach them to be better people.

Of course their will always be those who can never be useful in society in any way positive, it's a hideous idea to paint all criminals with the brush only a few deserve though. The amount of part-time criminals that have went career just because of a stint in jail is horrendous and unacceptable in a modern society.

They maybe saving Calfire $80mil but they still cost the prison system x amount + $1.00 hr. Maybe if we quit letting people out early the return rate wouldn't be so high

Originally posted by SupersonicSerpent


lol i was joking but it wouldn't surprise me if they did start taxing them,after all before they get put back into society they must learn to pay taxes.

What planet are you from?

No seriously. What planet are you from? What world do you come from? I am going to assume you simply do not know better so allow me to explain....

For the most part, many Americans who have jobs do not need to learn to pay taxes. Taxes are taken out of the paycheck before it ever comes into the hands to the person working for it. You do not learn to pay taxes, taxes are taken. There is no choice. The only real exceptions are people who work in cash industries, self employed people, and people who bring in money through various means besides simply working a job.

In this world of drug test and background test to get a job, your average inmate can look forward to minimum wage and entry level jobs. They will never need to learn to pay taxes. Their taxes will always be taken out before they get their paycheck. There will be no option and no choice no matter what the talking heads on TV tell you about people "not paying their fair share".

Personally I find this story sad. My hats off to the guys who put their lives on the line in service to others, but it is sad that these inmates lives are only worth $1 per hour according to the State. Especially when one considers the cost is roughly $47,000 per year to house an inmate in prison ($123 per day). This is slave labor at it's finest. Wouldn't it just make more sense to use non violent offenders and allow them to work for their freedom instead?