Thursday, July 10, 2008

Inmate firefighters

In exchange for $1 per hour and time shaved off their sentences, about 2,500 trained inmate firefighters are assisting the state of California to combat its annual summer wildfires. Cool story in the Christian Science Monitor, including this observation from a free-world fireman:
The program has had few escapes or incidents of misbehavior, say officials. "I don't worry too much. When the bell rings, they are firemen and they act like firemen," says Mike Parry, a crew technical specialist with the state agency CAL FIRE. "The inmates, at least in our camp, really never let me down on a fire."

5 comments:

  1. good idea- better if they figure out a way to let them continue the work once they are released officially-

    can not wait for your take on the tampered girl scout cookie case.

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  2. This program has been in effect in California for decades. Inmates have been fighting California's forest for years.

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  3. Schleicher county shouldn't complain about the FLDS bill, just look at what it costs to put out a Califonia wildfire in the Sequoia National Forest: $22,105,000 per Kern County Fire Dept. Only the monsoon rain has saved this from being even more expensive.

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  4. Perhaps we should send those CPS workers to California to battle REAL fires and make them do something useful for a living.

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