How often do Arizona inmates risk their lives because they are doing their prison job? More than one might think this time of year.

In total, 284 minimum security inmates have worked 134,694 hours this year trying to prevent and stop forest fires; 83,875 of those hours have been actively fighting fires. The inmates are paid 50 cents an hour, the top wage rate for prisoners.

Currently, there are three inmate crews battling five different fires around the state, said Bennie Rollins, the regional operations director of the north region for the Department of Corrections. The crews are battling the Sandia, Glass and Eagle fires, he said.

Charles Flanagan, workforce development administrator for the Department of Corrections, said the motivation for the prisoners is not so much the wage, but the opportunity to learn a skill that never goes out of demand.

“The incentive is to get the training and certification and then employment,” Mr. Flanagan said. “They work really hard at what they’re doing and are very detailed and focused.”

Some former inmates, Mr. Rollins said, have parlayed their wildland firefighting experience into employment at fire departments around the state after being released. At last count, 11 inmates had gone on to receive firefighting jobs.

Mr. Flanagan said the inmates who volunteer for the program — most minimum security prisoners have fewer than four years left on their sentence – are screened, even though they are already considered a low risk. They must be non-dangerous, non-repeat offenders to qualify.

“It’s kind of a double safety to protect the public, which is our top priority,” he said.

Savings For The State

There is also a significant cost savings for the state, Mr. Rollins said. He said use of inmate fire crews during the last four months of fiscal year 2004 produced a cost avoidance of more $800,000; the first four months of fiscal year 2005 resulted in a savings of $2.9 million.

“We think that the value provided is tremendous in terms of cost avoidance to the taxpayers and the skills provided to the inmates,” Mr. Rollins said.

Inmates accepted to the program undergo 80 hours of basic firefighter training and are certified by the state Land Department as wildland firefighters. The prisoners are trained in general firefighter skills — for example, how best to put out a blaze and how to use the equipment – and brush abatement.

Department of Corrections officers lead the teams and also receive training and certification from the Land Department.

Although fires don’t typically spring up until the weather becomes hot and dry in the summer, inmate fire crews spend all year performing brush abatement to remove as much fuel — dead plants and trees — for any future fire in the area. Mr. Flanagan said the crews have had a huge impact on fires in the state.

“This is an incredible trained human resource that’s not readily available,” he said.

12 Inmate Crews

Currently, the state has 12 inmate fire crews based out of eight prisons: 31 inmates, six officers and one sergeant from Douglas; 40 inmates, four officers and two sergeants from Florence; 20 inmates, two officers and one supervisor from Lewis prison in Buckeye; 20 inmates, two officers and one sergeant from Phoenix; 53 inmates, four officers, one sergeant and one captain from Safford; 40 inmates, four officers and 2 sergeants from Tucson; and 60 inmates, two officers and two sergeants from Winslow. This year, the state also began its first women’s inmate fire crew, based out of Perryville prison in Goodyear. It consists of 20 inmates, two officers and one sergeant.

In recent years the program has been expanded to double the number of inmate fire crews available to the Land Department. Mr. Flanagan says Governor Napolitano and Corrections Director Dora Schriro made doing so a priority.

“The commitment from the governor and the director allowed…for the doubling of what we have,” he said. “We pulled out all the stops to make it happen.”

Although it may seem natural to be wary of inmate work crews, Mr. Flanagan said the public has had nothing but positive interaction with the prisoners working as firefighters.

“I’ve never heard of any negative perception of anybody on the wildland fire crews — I think it’s just the opposite, in fact,” he said. “They’re glad to see the inmates are putting something back in the community, doing something to help others.” —