Trial By Fire

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How To Ensure Fair Pay For Incarcerated Fire Fighters

The City of Angels is still burning. The Palisades and Eaton Fires have ravaged more than 40,000 acres, destroyed over 14,000 structures, and turned iconic Los Angeles neighborhoods like the Pacific Palisades and Altadena into smoldering ruins. The Hughes Fire has just recently spread to over 9,000 acres and counting. Over 130,000 residents have been forced to flee, and Southern California’s air quality has plummeted to hazardous levels—the worst recorded globally this week.

Amid this devastation, thousands of emergency personnel are on the front lines battling the blazes. Among them are incarcerated individuals—justice-impacted people risking their lives for a state that pays them as little as $2.90 per day.

While their bravery is undeniable, their circumstances have sparked outrage. Critics question why those facing life-threatening conditions receive a fraction of what professional firefighters earn. Outrage alone won’t solve the issue. It’s time to focus on sustainable, actionable solutions like  Joint Venture Programs, which can provide incarcerated firefighters with fair wages and meaningful career pathways.

Beyond the Outrage: Building a Path to Fair Wages 

The CDCR Fire Camp Program has long been critical to California’s emergency response efforts. Incarcerated firefighters comprise 27% of the state’s firefighting force. They dig fire lines, clear vegetation, and battle flames in grueling 48-hour shifts. However, their pay—ranging from $2.90 to $5.12 per day, plus a modest $1 per hour during active emergencies—has drawn increasing scrutiny.

Significant barriers remain despite recent reforms such as Assembly Bill 2147, which allows some formerly incarcerated firefighters to petition for expungement and seek employment. Many cannot obtain the necessary certifications due to licensing restrictions. The result? Skilled, experienced individuals are left jobless upon release. However, solutions exist, especially if incentivized companies are willing to step up and do their part. One such avenue is a Joint Venture program, a model that has successfully provided fair wages and career training to incarcerated individuals in other industries.

Firefighters from the CDCR Fire Camp program (Source: CDCR)
Firefighters from the CDCR Fire Camp program (Source: CDCR)

The Joint Venture Model: A Sustainable Solution

According to Kevin McCracken, Executive Director of The Last Mile, Joint Ventures offer a transformative approach to employment for justice-impacted individuals. These partnerships with private companies provide industry-standard wages and financial planning education while fostering real-world experience.

“Joint Ventures ensure that participants earn fair wages based on the same labor market standards used on the outside,” McCracken explains. “With these earnings, participants contribute to their room and board, fulfill restitution obligations, and still have savings for their future.”

Here’s how it works: companies collaborate with correctional institutions to provide jobs that align with market rates set by California’s Employment Development Department. The wages earned by participants are distributed through the California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA) and allocated into five essential areas—room and board, victim restitution, personal savings, family support, and commissary. This structured approach helps justice-impacted individuals build financial stability while maintaining accountability and preparing for successful reentry.

McCracken highlights an example of this innovative approach, currently being piloted with students of The Last Mile coding program at California Institution for Women (CIW). In collaboration with TLM, NBCUniversal is hiring three TLM students to do coding and website development for the organization from within the walls of CIW. The students will earn $22 per hour, far exceeding typical prison wages, which range from $0.08 – $0.95 per hour.

McCracken argues that this model could be adapted to fire camps to provide incarcerated firefighters with fair compensation and career mobility​. The result would be incarcerated men and women building financial stability, developing transferable skills, and ultimately transitioning into society with the necessary tools for success – all while providing valuable services to their communities.

A Call for Corporate Leadership: Investing in Justice and Community Resilience

If companies can partner with correctional facilities to create meaningful, well-paying roles in web development and project management, why not firefighting?

A Joint Venture adaptation for state-sponsored fire camps would not only address labor shortages, it would also provide justice-impacted folks with access to fair wages and the potential to build a viable career after their incarceration. This requires bold action from companies committed to Fair Chance Employment, workforce development, and proactively fighting prison recidivism.

Imagine a scenario where corporations with vested interests in environmental sustainability—such as insurance companies, utilities, and tech firms—step up to support a Joint Venture firefighting initiative. These organizations could invest in training, certification, and fair wages, ensuring that those who risk their lives to protect our communities have access to real opportunities after release.

Companies, policymakers, and community leaders must come together to support initiatives that prioritize social equity. The time for criticism alone has passed—now is the moment for tangible solutions that pave the way for justice-impacted individuals to build meaningful, sustainable futures.

What can you do?

  • Advocate for expanding Joint Ventures into not only the firefighting sector, but other crucial workforce divisions we all rely on. 
  • Encourage businesses to sponsor and invest in such initiatives.
  • Support fair wage legislation for incarcerated workers.

McCracken makes his challenges to our readers clear: 

“People are outraged, but where are the solutions? We need companies willing to invest in the lives of justice-impacted individuals and help break the cycle of incarceration. This isn’t just about fairness. It’s about building a future where justice-impacted individuals are given the opportunity to thrive, not just survive.”


By Robert Roche, Content Marketing Director with The Last Mile, in collaboration with with Kevin McCracken, Executive Director of The Last Mile.