As wildfires rage on in Southern California, 783 prisoners so far have pitched in to help with the 2025 efforts. Dating back to 1915, the state’s Department of Corrections has trained incarcerated volunteers as part of so-called “fire camps.” These firefighters and support staff are paid between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, with additional pay given during emergencies. Qualifying crew members must have eight years or less remaining on their sentence and exhibit good behavior behind bars. However, the low wages and high risk have led prison activists to question the program as exploitative. A 2018 Time report found inmates were much more likely to be injured on the job than professional firefighters. Despite the controversy, California voters rejected a ballot proposition in 2024 that would ban using prisoners as unpaid labor.