The Brief

Nearly 800 incarcerated people are among the more than 7,500 personnel helping fight the historic, and destructive, Southern California wildfires.

The five raging wildfires have destroyed homes, businesses and landmarks throughout Los Angeles.

"As of today, 783 Fire Camp firefighters have been working around the clock cutting fire lines and removing fuel from behind structures to slow fire spread, including 88 support staff," California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement to NPR on Thursday.

This is not a new practice. California has relied on incarcerated firefighters since 1915. And prison labor has been used to respond to emergencies and disasters nationwide for centuries, said Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, a criminal justice advocacy organization.

To those, like Tylek, opposed to the continued use of incarcerated people as firefighters, the system is seen as exploitative.

California's department of corrections says individuals who are part of this program are there voluntarily and are paid between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, with additional pay provided during emergencies and in other circumstances.

This controversial practice also fills critical personnel gaps, especially as California faces a future with longer and more destructive fire seasons due to climate change. During the first full day of the wildfires, LA area-crews were battling upwards of five large blazes at the same time, which stretched the county's emergency response resources and staff, Anthony Marrone, LA County fire chief, said Wednesday.

Incarcerated firefighters from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation walk in at the Station Fire Incident Command Post in the Lake View Terrace area of Los Angeles in 2009.

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Jae C. Hong

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'Do they completely choose what they do?'

California is one of more than a dozen states that operates conservation camps, commonly known as fire camps, for incarcerated people to train to fight fires and respond to other disasters.

The program was first established in 1915, but expanded during World War II after forestry staff left to fight in the war. In the interim, incarcerated people were tapped as replacements and 41 camps were established. There are now 35 such camps in California, all of which are minimum-security facilities.

These fire-fighting crews are made up of incarcerated volunteers deemed physically and mentally fit, who have exhibited good behavior and follow the rules, according to CDCR. They must also have eight years or less remaining on their sentence. When they are not fighting fires, they also respond to floods and other disasters and emergencies. Otherwise, the crews do community service work in areas close to their camp, according to the state corrections department.

Tylek, of Worth Rises, questions how voluntary the assignment are given that California's corrections department, like many prisons across the country, requires people in prison to work. Prison labor programs, generally, have historical ties to the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime" — an exception that prison rights advocates like Tylek say allows for exploitative labor.

She acknowledged some individuals do want to work for the firefighting program. And there are many who have found a calling in the work.

"But it comes at a pretty steep cost," Tylek said noting that she's heard from people badly injured while doing this work at a very low wage.

A 2018 Time investigation found that incarcerated firefighters are at a higher risk for serious injuries. They also are more than four times as likely to get cuts, bruises or broken bones compared to professional firefighters working the same fires, the report found. They were also more than eight times as likely to face injuries after inhaling smoke, ash and other debris compared with other firefighters, the report said.

California's corrections department said incarcerated people do not face disciplinary action if they choose not to serve their time in a fire camp. They also undergo safety and first-aid training as part of the program.

A firefighter waters down a home after the Eaton Fire burns in Altadena on Thursday.

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Nic Coury

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There have been efforts to stop prison labor

While most incarcerated people receive little to no pay "nationwide, incarcerated workers produce more than $2 billion a year in goods and commodities and over $9 billion a year in services for the maintenance of the prisons where they are warehoused," a 2022 joint report from the ACLU and The University of Chicago's Global Human Rights Clinic found.

Since 2018, the year in which Colorado banned the use of unpaid prison labor, a movement emerged calling on states to change their constitutions to remove the 13th Amendment "exception." An NPR investigation found that even in states that approved this change, prisoners were still being used for low or unpaid labor.

In 2024, California and Nevada brought the question of banning the practice of using prisoners as unpaid labor to voters. Nevada's voters approved the ban while California voters rejected Proposition 6.

Tylek said changing voters' mind on this issue "is an ongoing effort."

The ongoing Southern California wildfires "really illustrates why that effort was so important," she said. As hundreds of "incarcerated people take to the front lines of these wildfires to defend the personhood and property of people around the Los Angeles area and California, I hope that Californians can start to realize their value."
Copyright 2025 NPR

At least seven wildfires burning around Southern California are sending smoke across the region. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has extended a smoke advisory warning of unhealthy air through 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

What does a smoke advisory mean?

Local health officials send out warnings when the air quality is unhealthy. The advisories encourage people to avoid outdoor activities and take other steps to limit contact with smoky air.

Where are the wildfires?

Wildfires are burning in Ventura, San Diego, Riverside, Santa Barbara and L.A. counties. You can keep tabs on the fires on the CalFire website.

How bad is the air?

Wildfire smoke is generally worse for your health than the kind of “garden variety urban pollution” Angelenos are used to, said Suzanne Paulson, an atmospheric chemist at UCLA. But air quality depends on where you live, and might change from hour to hour. The good news is that low-cost air quality sensors have made it easier to find out just how bad the air is in your neck of the woods. You can check PurpleAir, Clarity, and IQAir for real-time data on pollution levels, often down to the neighborhood level.

How to avoid breathing bad air

Staying indoors in the best way to avoid bad air pollution, Paulson said. You can also try to avoid the worst areas. “So for example, I ride my bike to work. I regularly look at the map and see if the air quality is OK, and sometimes I even change my route,” Paulson said.

The city of Santa Ana is just $85 short of closing what started as a $13 million budget deficit. On the chopping block: after-school programming, park maintenance and more.

The city manager’s office presented another round of cuts to balance the budget at yesterday’s City Council meeting. Officials reported that the current proposal avoids layoffs and furloughs. Most of the cuts will come from the Public Works Department at more than $3 million.

Santa Ana's current budget proposal includes an estimated $85 deficit for the upcoming fiscal year.

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More on what’s being cut 

The Police Department is seeing a proposed $2 million in cuts, but could still be allocated $4 million more than last year, according to the budget draft.

The city is looking to cut 20 vacant full-time positions and reduce part-time spending.

Five non-mandated commissions will also be dissolved, including the youth, parks and recreation, and arts and culture commissions. The move will save the city nearly $28,000.

Ambulance services will be cut down from a 24-hour unit to a 12-hour unit, saving $250,000, and fees will increase.

How did we get here? 

At a City Council meeting earlier this month, officials reported that the city’s revenue increased by 3% compared to last year, but spending is up 6%, with hikes in labor and pension/liability costs.

What’s the deal with youth programming? 

The Santa Ana Police Athletic and Activity League, also known as PAAL, costs the city more than $877,000, about 80% of which goes toward salaries for its current fiscal budget.

PAAL costs the city about $5,400 per child, compared to youth programs run by the Parks and Recreation Department, which cost about $100 per kid.

PAAL’s after-school and summer programs serve 87 children, and more than 200 are mentored and coached through its sports programming. The program’s budget will be slashed by about half.

Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez said this move should not be seen as a cut to youth services.

“Through this new proposed recommendation, we’ll reinstate exercise instruction at four different elementary schools, and we will increase the services from 228 children to 2,200 children,” Hernandez said. “We are not cutting youth services, we're actually adding youth services while saving money for our city.”

Mayor Valerie Amezcua said the library and parks departments can do the same programs, but not the way PAAL does.

“I just want to make sure whatever cuts we're making, that we continue to include our Police Department. To me, that's very important for the public trust,” Amezcua said.

What’s next? 

The city isn’t completely in the clear when it comes to its finances. Measure X, a voter-approved sales tax, will be reduced in 2029, resulting in the loss of at least $30 million in annual revenue before completely expiring in 2039. The City Council, aside from Councilmembers David Penaloza and Jessie Lopez, has supported asking voters if the tax should be made permanent.

A public hearing to review the drafted budget will be held on June 2. Details will be posted on the city’s website.

At least 20 detainees have launched a hunger strike at Desert View Annex, an immigrant detention center in Adelanto, California, where about 400 people are being held.

At a news conference Wednesday, immigrant rights groups, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said the strikers were motivated by the detention center’s inadequate response to life-threatening health conditions among detainees, “decreasing portions of food” as commissary prices rise and “retaliation and suppression” against those who’ve spoken out against conditions inside. The media event included family members and legal representatives, who described hearing from detainees about how the hunger strike began.

The strike follows the recent release of a critical report from the California Department of Justice. Grounded in interviews with 194 detainees across the state, the report details how the surge in immigrant apprehensions strained conditions and access to medical care at all of the facilities operating in California. State investigators also described the recent deaths of multiple detainees.

The annex strikers’ demands include:

• bond reform
• remediation of mold, repair of water infrastructure, clean water and functioning facilities
• timely medical appointments, “appropriate treatment for chronic conditions” and “substantive mental health support”
• “a diet that sustains basic physical health”
• accountability for detainee deaths, including a man who died shortly after being released 
• “The ability to meet collectively, speak with outside advocates, and communicate with family and the public without interference or retaliation.”

Desert View Annex is operated by The GEO Group, a private prison company, under contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No one at the press conference could confirm whether any detainees at the main Adelanto detention facility were on a hunger strike, too.

What is the response from authorities?

In response to a request for comment, The GEO Group referred LAist to the federal government. In an emailed statement, an unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: “There is no hunger strike at Adelanto.”

The department also added: “For the record: During hunger strikes, ICE continues to provide three meals a day, delivered to the detained alien’s room, and an adequate supply of drinking water or other beverages.”

The department also said: “It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.”

What do detainees experience?

Caleb Soto, an attorney with the National Day Labor Organizing Network, represents people currently detained at the Adelanto detention center. He said he goes inside the facility every week.

“I watch [detainees] deteriorate week by week,” he said. “The food they're given ... provides almost no nutrition. Medical appointments can take weeks or even months to be approved, and often last 60 seconds ending with the prescription of Tylenol, Advil or even a salt packet. People with serious conditions go untreated, and I've watched people age in front of me in a matter of months.”

Soto also described his experience with the bond system. “Discretionary releases have fallen 87%,” he said. “And for those who do get a bond hearing, the average bond is now over $14,000, which is a stark increase from the previous administration.”

Detainees have filed grievances, raised formal complaints and written officials about the conditions they’re experiencing, Soto added. “A hunger strike is not a first resort," he said. "It's what people do when every other option has been taken from them.”

Detainees say staff use solitary confinement to retaliate against those who speak out against these conditions, and to isolate detainees who are experiencing mental health crises.

Earlier this year, a coalition of immigrant rights groups filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of detainees, calling for conditions at Adelanto to be improved. The coalition has since requested an emergency court order to prevent further harm. A hearing is scheduled for July 10.