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Nearly 1,000 incarcerated men and women person joined the frontlines successful a conflict against record-breaking wildfires burning crossed confederate California.
The fig deployed - present 939 - are portion of a long-running unpaid programme led by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
Their numbers person steadily accrued since Tuesday, the time the deadly fires began spreading uncontrollably done Los Angeles.
Over 10,000 structures person been destroyed and 37,000 acres burned, arsenic thousands of exigency workers descend connected the Los Angeles country to combat the flames.
At slightest 11 radical person been killed successful the wildfires, officials said.
The incarcerated firefighters person been drawn from among the 35 conservation occurrence camps tally by the state, minimum-security facilities wherever inmates service their clip and person training. Two of the camps are for incarcerated women.
The 900-plus incarcerated firefighters successful usage relationship for astir fractional of the 1,870 prisoner-firefighters successful the scheme.
In the field, they tin beryllium seen successful prison-orange jumpsuits embedded alongside members of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
The incarcerated firefighters person been moving "around the timepiece cutting occurrence lines and removing substance from down structures to dilatory occurrence spread", CDCR told the BBC successful an emailed statement.
The programme, which dates backmost to 1946, has divided critics, who spot it arsenic exploitative, and supporters, who accidental it is rehabilitative.
The authorities pays inmates a regular wage betwixt $5.80 and $10.24 (£4.75 and £8.38), and an further $1 per time erstwhile assigned to progressive emergencies.
Those wages are a fraction of the salaries received by national firefighters successful California, who tin gain upwards of $100,000 annually.
"You're getting pennies compared to the different folks that's alongside of you. You're conscionable inexpensive labour," Royal Ramey, a erstwhile incarcerated firefighter and co-founder of the non-profit Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP), told the BBC.
"And if you bash walk distant portion warring fires, you don't get immoderate benefits from that," helium continued.
"You're not gonna get nary award. You're not gonna beryllium recognised arsenic a wildland firefighter," helium said, adding that helium would retrieve successful the tract that helium had already signed his ain decease certificate.
Still, Mr Ramey said the debased wage is much than a California captive would different gain performing jobs successful the authorities penitentiaries.
The conservation camps and their "park, picnic-type feel" besides connection further perks similar amended food, helium said, compared to California's notoriously unsafe and overcrowded prisons.
"It's a amended surviving situation, definitely," helium said.
Camp participants tin besides gain clip credits that assistance trim their situation sentences, CDRC said.
Inmates convicted of crimes categorised arsenic "serious" oregon "violent" felonies are not eligible to participate.
After incarcerated firefighters are released from situation - having been trained by the authorities - galore effort to get hired arsenic national firefighters, but are denied, Mr Ramey said.
"There's a stigma to it. When radical deliberation of firefighters they deliberation of immoderate clean-cut guy, a hero, not idiosyncratic who's been locked up," helium said.
He launched his nonprofit to assistance formerly incarcerated firefighters flooded the barriers and assistance capable the firefighter shortage California has faced for years.
There are presently 5 wildfires burning done billions of dollars worthy of structures successful the Los Angeles area, predicted to beryllium 1 of the astir costly successful history.
Strained for resources, the authorities has called connected implicit 7,500 exigency unit and archetypal responders, including the authorities and National Guard and firefighters from arsenic acold distant arsenic Canada.
The fires person inactive been hard to incorporate and proceed to spread, with 35,000 acres from the 2 largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, already burned.
Additional reporting by Claire Betzer
English (US)