California is paying inmates $1 an hour to fight wildfires
Roughly 14,000 firefighters battled the Mendocino fires. Among them were over than 2,000 inmates. According to a local ABC affiliate, roughly 200 inmate firefighters are assisting with the Butte County Camp Fire burning right now.
The inmates are part of a volunteer firefighting program run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Inmates are paid $2 a day, and $1 an hour when fighting an active fire. They also earn time off their sentences.
Here's one way to make up money they don't get.. Lets use inmates and pay them little while risking their lives..
According to the CDCR, the program saves the state between $90 and $100 million a year, though some critics fear that the financial benefits of cheap prison labor incentivize mass incarceration.
They are also denied their licenses to become firefighters after their release..
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/14/california-is-paying-inmates-1-an-hour-to-fight-wildfires.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/08/20/californias-volunteer-inmate-firefighters-denied-jobs-after-release-column/987677002/