Prisoners fight against Feuerinferno in California: a risky alliance!

Prisoners fight against Feuerinferno in California: a risky alliance!

In California, a devastating fire inferno rages that has already cost 24 people. The latest reports indicate that due to new winds will have to be expected with further fires in the coming days. In order to combat the flames, the city of Los Angeles has now mobilized over 900 prisoners who are temporarily acting as a firefighter. According to the Los Angeles Times , these imprisoned parties provide up to 30 percent of the total emergency services. The work is extremely dangerous and require a careful selection of the participants. Only prisoners with a low security level that behave well and have less than eight years in prison may take part.

These prisoners have to go through an intensive training program beforehand, which prepares them for the challenges of forest fire fighting. They are trained in a mixture of theory and practice in 35 special “Fire Camps”. The responsible prison authority emphasizes that the commitment of these detained firefighters is indispensable during the emergencies. However, critics question the ethics behind this program and describe it as exploitative, while supporters praise its positive aspects for social reintegration. A former detained firefighter, Royal Ramey, comments on the payment of the emergency services: "Compared to other emergency services, you only get a fraction of the payment," he reports in an interview with the BBC.

The partly miserable remuneration of the prisoners, which is between $ 5.80 and $ 10.24 a day, is particularly alarming, with an additional dollar per hour for emergency inserts. Ramey emphasizes that in the event of an injury or even death during the mission, the prisoners receive no recognition or award. Such circumstances raise serious questions about the fairness and security of the program, while California continues to fight desperately against the devastating flames, so translated reports Complete the critical voices.