Kim Kardashian called on California Governor Gavin Newsom to increase the pay of incarcerated firefighters battling the devastating LA fires.
“On all 5 fires in Los Angeles, there are hundreds of incarcerated firefighters, risking their lives to save us,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories late Saturday night.
“They are on the Palisades fire and Eaton fire in Pasadena working 24 hour shifts. They get paid almost nothing, risk their lives, some have died, to prove to the community that they have changed and are now first responders. I see them as heroes.”
The “Kardashians” star said the incarcerated firefighters are being paid $1 an hour to “risk their lives” and that pay has been the same since 1984.
“It has never been raised with inflation. It’s never been raised when fires got worse and many died,” she wrote.
Kardashian, 44, said there was a recent agreement to raise incarcerated firefighters’ pay to $5 an hour “but it got shot down last minute.”
“I am urging [Newsom] to do what no Governor has done in 4 decades, and raise the incarcerated firefighter pay to a rate [that] honors a human being risking their life to save our lives and homes,” the mom of four continued.
Kardashian also thanked the firefighters from the Ventura Training Center, which offers formerly incarcerated firefighters additional rehabilitation and job training skills to help them become qualified to apply for entry-level firefighting jobs.
“Due to bills passed by @antirecidivismcoalition, these guys can now get their sentences reduced, expunging the felonies from their records for their fire service,” she wrote.
“And when they come home can get six figure jobs working for the fire departments.”
The Skims founder and the rest of her famous family — including Kourtney Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Rob Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Kris Jenner — have had to evacuate their pricey homes in the wake of the fires, which started last Tuesday in Pacific Palisades.
Despite leaving the area, the Kardashians gave back to their community by donating meals from the Carousel Restaurant to “several fire stations” across LA.
Additionally, Kim’s shapewear brand, Skims, has donated clothing and other necessities to families affected by the wildfires.
