1,000 incarcerated people are among the ranks of firefighters battling the California wildfires, receiving dollars a day for their grueling work to protect one of the wealthiest counties in the country.
Colorado has similarly relied on people in prisons who sign up for the State Wildland Inmate Fire team to fight its biggest fires. While the pay is low, the SWIFT unit is meant to offer purpose and structure.
But when they leave prison, these incarcerated firefighters often face extreme difficulty in finding a job with their new skills…