Kim Kardashian spoke out in support of the Southern California prison inmates who have joined the battle against the devastating wildfires.
The reality star and criminal justice activist, 44, released a statement on her Instagram Stories on Saturday and demanded higher pay for the incarcerated LA firefighters.
“I have spent the last week watching my city burning. And have seen and spoken to many firefighters who are up all night long using every ounce of their strength to save our community,” she began her message.
“On all 5 fires in Los Angeles, there are hundreds of incarcerated firefighters, risking their lives to save us,” Kardashian continued. “They are on the Palisades fire and Eaton fire in Pasadena working 24 hour shifts.”
The “American Horror Story” actress noted that the inmates “get paid almost nothing, risk their lives, some have died, to prove to the community that they have changed are now first responders.”
“I see them as heroes,” she added.
According to the BBC, over 1,000 incarcerated men and women are helping fight the LA fires. They’ve been wearing prison-orange jumpsuits out in the field working alongside members of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Kardashian’s statement went on, “The incarcerated firefighters have been paid $1/hour to risk their lives, and this 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.”
“This year there was an agreement to raise the incarcerated firefighters pay to $5/hour, but it got shot down last minute,” she explained.
The mom of four called on Governor Gavin 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.”
“And lastly I want to thank the firefighters from the @calfire Ventura Training Center for saving my community when it started burning this week,” added Kardashian, who had to evacuate her $60 million Hidden Hills home threatened by the Kenneth Fire.
“These are all FORMERLY incarcerated firefighters who have come home, and want to continue serving our community as firefighters,” Kardashian noted.
“Due to bills passed by @antirecidivismcoalition, these guys can now get their sentences reduced, expunging the felonies from their records for their fire service. And when they come home can get six figure jobs working for the fire departments,” she concluded.
According to CBS News, the imprisoned firefighters volunteer to participate in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Conservation Fire Camps Program.
The inmates are specifically being tasked with removing vegetation to cut fire lines and taking away fuel from behind structures to slow the blaze. They can also take on supports roles at the camps, including cooking, laundry and water treatment plant operation.
The LA fires began ripping across the county on Tuesday. Five days later, at least 16 people have died, while over 200,000 others have been displaced.
At least 39,000 acres of land have burned down — an area about two-and-a-half times the size of Manhattan.
