On Sunday, August 30, two LA County Firefighters were killed when their truck plunged 800 feet on Mount Gleason while attempting to rescue 55 inmates, three corrections officers, and other fire personnel from a fire-crew camp.  The loss of two heroes in this tragic accident raises awareness of the state’s use of inmates to fight fires and prompts questions about the impact of California’s budget woes on the firefighting effort.

According to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation press release, “there are 2,245 adult inmates and 53 Division of Juvenile Justice youth deployed to fires statewide, including Los Angeles, Riverside, and 15 other counties,” under the supervision of “187 correctional officers and supervisors.” According to Reuters, “Inmates collectively did 3.1 million hours of emergency firefighting last year at $1 an hour.” California relies heavily on this labor and many worry that a release of 27,000 or more low-risk inmates will forfeit their availability.

California fire agency spokeswoman Alisha Herring said that “Any release of inmates will have a direct impact on our ability to suppress fires. “Meanwhile, Governor Schwarzenegger’s finance spokesman H.D. Palmer stated, “The bottom line is we will take whatever actions are necessary to ensure the budget will never be an obstacle to put crews on these wildfires.”  On Tuesday, September 1, Governor Schwarzenegger requested a delay in lowering the state’s prison population.

While touring a devastated neighborhood in Big Tujunga Canyon on Thursday, September 3, the Governor was confronted by residents alleging wealthier neighborhoods received better protection when fire swept through the area on Saturday, August 29.  In response, Michael Bryant, deputy chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said, “Our resources were limited, then released when the threat grew to this incident.” Deputy Chief Bryant may be alluding to state and local response capacity before the request for Federal assistance.

Did limited resources keep air support like HawaiiMars on the ground?  See @HawaiiMars crew express some frustration via twitter: “The Mars sat on the Lake all day and didnt fly one mission, suprising with all the fires burning” (2:22 AM Sep 1st) and numerous times the following day “Mars still sitting on Lake Elsinore not flying” (2:26 PM Sep 1st) and again, “Mars still not flying” (3:16 PM Sep 1st).

On Monday, California was granted a FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Station Fire that authorizes FEMA “to reimburse 75 percent of the eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling the fire.”  If the Governor asks for more help, he will probably receive it.