California’s fire seasons have become more like year-round fire years. For firefighters on the frontlines, safety is the number one priority when wildfires erupt. When these fires strike, there’s often a shortage of civilian firefighters to stop the spread. California has a long history of using incarcerated labor to supplement industries in need of additional assistance- including firefighting. For Gabriel Perez, a formerly incarcerated firefighter, his passion to serve his community by protecting it from fires began while he was incarcerated, and continues every day while he works to keep his community fire safe, even during a pandemic. Roundtable guests: Brandon Smith, co-founder of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, and Jaime Lowe, author of Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California's Wildfires.

Learn more about FFRP: https://www.forestryfirerp.org/  

Learn more about Breathing Fire: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374116187/breathingfire 

Episode Transcript: https://app.trint.com/public/3627988c-df1f-4c16-8705-2eeb7ee757db