PHOTO ESSAY: Young California inmates learn skills to fight wildfires

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Inmate firefighters in California will receive higher pay and the state will make permanent firefighting camps that train and educate young offenders under two laws signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

California state agencies and the Los Angeles County fire department run 35 “fire camps” where inmates train to become certified wildland firefighters. More than 1,100 inmate firefighters worked alongside state firefighters to stop wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year that leveled neighborhoods and killed at least 30 people.

The Youth Offender Program, run out of the Pine Grove Conservation Camp and Growlesberg Conservation Camp in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, specifically trains inmates under 25 to battle wildfires. The participants also receive education and mentorship. The program started as a pilot project in 2023, and it will now become permanent.

Damien Rubalcava, who was convicted of homicide and sentenced to 14 years, said the program has given him purpose and peace. The 25-year-old father of two said his participation means he will now get out by 2029 instead of 2036, and he will be ready to continue helping others.

“Once upon a time I was putting a lot of harm on my own community,” he said. “Now’s it’s my time to shine and give back.”

The second law signed Monday by Newsom raises inmate firefighter pay during active emergencies to match the minimum wage — currently $7.25 per hour. Right now, inmate firefighters earn between $5.80 to $10.24 a day and an extra $1 an hour during active wildfires. That means the lowest-paid firefighters earn less than $30 per 24-hour shift.

Inmates train to become firefighters for the chance to cut time off their sentences, to get outside the prison walls and for training that might help them land a job once they’re out.

“Nobody who puts their life on the line for other people should earn any less than the federal minimum wage,” said Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who authored the bill.

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.