California authorities are considering allowing inmates with violent records to become firefighters.
California inmates have been part of the largest and oldest firefighting unit in the United States, with 3,800 estimated inmate firefighters who offer help and assist professional firefighters, which is actually down compared to the 4,400 inmates who took part in the past years, according to the San Francisco Gate. Only inmates without violent crime history are allowed to become a part of California's firefighting unit, but next year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will consider letting violent offenders participate in the firefighting unit if their classification has changed due to good behavior.
There would be restrictions on who would be hired for the unit, however, such as the inmate cannot have a conviction of first-degree murder or arson.
"There have been fatalities over the years, but we haven't had any recent fire line-involved deaths with inmates," said Lynne Tolmachoff, spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, according to The Daily Beast.
Hiring inmates means cheap labor. These inmates only make $2 a day as firefighters. California saves up to $80 million in firefighting expenses that has become also an issue with prisoner advocacy organizations.
