Los Angeles, California, USA 🇺🇸 - January 11, 2025, 12:00 PM

Nearly 1,000 incarcerated men and women have joined the frontlines in the fight against record-breaking wildfires raging across southern California. A total of 939 individuals have been deployed as part of a long-standing volunteer program managed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

Their involvement has steadily grown since Tuesday, when the fires began spreading uncontrollably through Los Angeles. So far, over 10,000 structures have been destroyed, 37,000 acres have burned, and thousands of emergency workers have mobilized in the Los Angeles area to combat the flames.

The incarcerated firefighters have been drawn from 35 conservation fire camps operated by the state, which are minimum-security facilities where inmates serve their sentences while receiving specialized training. Two of these camps are dedicated to incarcerated women.

Currently, more than 900 incarcerated individuals, roughly half of the 1,870 participants in the program, have been deployed to fight the wildfires. On the frontlines, they can be identified by their prison-orange jumpsuits as they work alongside professionals from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

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