So much discussion about the lack of resources in California insofar as firefighting personnel goes. But there are literally thousands of formerly incarcerated men & women around the state with the skills, training, & desire to help out with fires like #CZULightningComplexFire

I spoke with @LACOFD personnel manning the #CZULightningComplexFire in Bonny Doon last night. This is the same department I worked with as an incarcerated wildland firefighter. It was good to exchange stories & get more insight into their attitudes towards prisoner hand crews.

We talked about the shortage of hand crews following #COVIDー19, but also the problem of lack of resources prior to the pandemic. CA needs more firefighting personnel, period. This led us to the topic of all the trained firefighters sitting at home right now, unable to work.

The good news: there appears to be some discussion in Los Angeles around creating paid firefighter crews composed of those who have paroled from CDCR fire camps. They need them and want them.

Just remember: we, as taxpayers, paid to train these men & women as wildland firefighters. The disaster we’re seeing right now throughout California is exactly what we trained them to handle. Yet, they’re not working. I think the time has come to significantly change this.