Grants Help Inmate Firefighters Start New Careers
Grants Help Inmate Firefighters Start New Careers
Brandon Smith was a U.S. Forest Service firefighter battling the 2015 Lake Fire in Big Bear when he recognized another firefighting crew. They were prison inmates from one of California’s 35 fire camps, run by the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Not quite two years earlier, he had been part of that same crew.
Paroled in 2014, Smith’s past convictions barred him from receiving certifications needed to apply for full-time firefighting opportunities. It wasn’t until a 2015 state of emergency proclamation by then-Gov. Jerry Brown cleared the way for additional firefighting resources that Smith was able to turn his years of wildland firefighting experience, making $5 a day or less while incarcerated, into a career.
He co-founded the nonprofit Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program in 2015 to help others establish career pathways and make that same transition.
“We navigated a maze and we want to help others, so they don’t go through what we did,” said Smith, now Forestry and Fire’s executive director. He cites the positive impact of a state law passed last September allowing inmate firefighters to become eligible for firefighting jobs by having their records expunged after completing their sentences.
“As a firefighter, you have to maintain the tenets of duty, integrity, respect. You don’t stop maintaining those tenets when your shift ends, it’s a way of life,” said Royal Ramey, Forestry and Fire co-founder and chief program officer. His experience was similar to Smith’s. “If you see somebody in a car accident on a freeway, you pull over and figure out how to help.”
The new policy “gives formerly incarcerated people new possibilities as to what the world looks like,” Smith said, adding that the nonprofit is now at the forefront of increasing the number of people of color and women in the fire service.
“The No. 1 reason for recidivism is joblessness,” said Sara Sindija, Forestry and Fire’s chief operations and finance officer. “California has a huge need for wildland firefighters; incarcerated people have been doing this work, now they’re coming home, they need a job, they (are less likely to) go back to prison if they have jobs. It all kind of fits together.”
The organization recruits incarcerated firefighters from state fire camps, which house only nonviolent, minimum-custody inmates. It also provides training, helps build support systems and connects graduates with job opportunities. Since 2015, the program has helped more than 140 people find employment in firefighting or forestry. Recently, a crew comprised of 10 Forestry and Fire graduates and staff deployed to help fight the Caldor Fire in Northern California.
As a firefighter, you have to maintain the tenets of duty, integrity, respect. You don’t stop maintaining those tenets when your shift ends, it’s a way of life. If you see somebody in a car accident on a freeway, you pull over and figure out how to help.”
Royal Ramey, Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program
Edison International, parent company of Southern California Edison, awarded the nonprofit two grants totaling $75,000 (funded by shareholders, not customers) to support the six-month Wildland Fire Academy training program. The grants are part of Edison’s continuing support of nonprofits involved in wildfire mitigation, prevention and resilience ($4-plus million in grants in 2020), as well as diversity, equity and inclusion efforts ($2 million in grants in 2020).
“Edison’s support for the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program addresses California’s need for more wildland firefighters, increases the diversity of the fire service’s ranks and creates career opportunities for formerly incarcerated men and women, who can put their hard-earned skills and experience to use protecting our communities,” said SCE’s Alejandro Esparza, principal manager, Corporate Giving & Community Engagement.
Chris Tracy, a Forestry and Fire graduate, says the program “has been a huge part of my success … they pointed me in the right direction.” Another graduate, Franklin Gallardo, was “stoked to get my firefighting certificate” with the help of the Forestry and Fire team. “It’s very rewarding to … do something positive for my community.”