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When large wildfires break out in California, including San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, it's all hands on deck to protect life and property.
Many of those hands have spent time in shackles but as recently passed criminal justice reform laws take full effect, the number of inmate firefighters is down.
"The reason most of them do it is to get a reduction in their sentence," said CAL FIRE District Commander John Owens, who manages the San Luis Obispo County district inmate firefighter crews.
Every day of work inmates do as a firefighter counts as two days toward their sentence.
Putting inmates on the front lines also benefits California taxpayers. Inmate firefighters earn about $1 per hour to risk their lives, which is considerably less than firefighters employed with the state.