Second chances are rare, but they do happen from time to time. In California, a state that has recently been (and is currently being) subject to numerous wildfires, good behavior prison inmates get a chance to receive firefighter training and act as hand crews for fire camps. Oftentimes, they’re the first team on the scene of a fire.
Photographer Kevin Steele recently got a chance to follow some of these crews and capture their contribution to putting out the seemingly endless wildfires. He quotes one of the crew members: “When you look in the mirror when you’re incarcerated, you see the words written on your shirt that say ‘prisoner’…it generates a sense of worthlessness…but when you’re a prisoner firefighter there’s a sense of redemption. You’re getting thanked. Somebody’s calling you a hero.”
Earlier in September, the California legislature passed a bill that will allow nonviolent inmates who have been working on the fire crew to have their records completely wiped once released and pursue a career in firefighting.
In sharing the photos, Kevin sent out a “thank you to the heroes fighting on the frontlines of this record wildfire season.”
You can read more about the prisoner firefighter crews in Kevin’s latest Instagram posts right here.
