Kim Kardashian pushes for incarcerated firefighters to receive higher pay.
Kardashian posted a message thanking local officials and first responders for their efforts to stop the wildfires.
In her message, she wrote, “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 continued, “Thank you to @calfire LA County Fire and Los Angeles City Fire for everything you are doing to save lives, homes, and property.” We recently reported that inmates in California have volunteered to help put out the fires as part of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation program.
They have reported that 783 Fire Camp firefighters are going “around the clock” as of last Thursday. Kardashian added, “On all 5 fires in Los Angeles, there are hundreds of incarcerated firefighters, risking their lives to save us. 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.”
She continued, “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.”
It is unknown how many firefighters have died in the Los Angeles wildfires. Kim Kardashian also mentioned her effort to get the pay raised to $5 per hour and called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to address this matter.
“I am urging @cagovernor to do what no Governor has done in 4 decades, and raise the incarcerated firefighter pay to a rate the [sic] honors a human being risking their life to save our lives and homes.”