Lawmaker introduces bill to increase wages for incarcerated firefighters to $19 an hour

Photo credit: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

CALIFORNIA – Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan held a press conference, March 11, for a new bill that will pay an incarcerated firefighter an hourly wage of $19 while assigned to an active fire incident.

“Los Angeles might still be burning if it wasn’t for the hundreds of incarcerated hand crews that went to work. They didn’t politicize this crisis. They didn’t look to point blank blame. They looked to save lives, to save homes,” said Bryan during the press conference.

The Palisades and Eaton Fires collectively burned over 37,000 acres in the Los Angeles area. The fires damaged over 18,000 structures including more than 16,000 that were completely destroyed.

Bryan goes on to say that all front line heroes deserve to be compensated justly.

Incarcerated firefighters currently earn $5 to $10 per day

Under current law, prisoners can join approved rehabilitation programs – such as firefighting, to shorten their sentences.

County jail inmates trained to work as firefighters can earn 2 days of credit for every day served, instead of the usual 1 day of credit.

According to Bryan, incarcerated firefighters currently earn $5 to $10 per day for their work.

“Crews typically work grueling 24-hour shifts – although this year’s Los Angeles fires saw many working double that,” said Bryan in the bill analysis.

AB 247 would require incarcerated firefighter crew members to earn $19 per hour when working on active fire incidents, in addition to receiving sentence reduction credits.

The bill also calls for the wage rate to be updated annually.

AB 247 could create significant fiscal pressure on counties

The California State Sheriff’s Association said that AB 247 could create significant fiscal pressure on counties already facing challenging budget times.

“Counties, if they are to be responsible for paying this new wage, would be forced to consider a substantial new cost when determining if and how to deploy inmate firefighters,” said the association in the bill analysis.

They go on to say that inmate firefighters ‘earn very generous early release credits.’

“Every day served in this role earns two additional days of credit, meaning an inmate would only serve one-third of their sentence for the time they qualify,” said the association.