Kim Kardashian: Inmate firefighters should be paid more

Kim Kardashian is calling for higher wages for the hundreds of inmate firefighters currently battling multiple wildfires that have flared up around Los Angeles.

In a long one multipost statement on her Instagram storythe reality TV star and criminal justice reform advocate thanked those who risked their lives to fight the fires while pushing California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) to change laws limiting pay for incarcerated firefighters .

“I’ve seen my city on fire this past week,” Kardashian’s messages began. “And I have seen and spoken to many firefighters who are up all night, using all their might to save our community.”

Among those on the front lines are the more than 900 people locked up being paid subminimum wages while facing deadly conditions to save people and property throughout Southern California.

According to California education news outlet EdSource: that number includes 29 youth who are part of a disaster response training program first tested by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in 2023.

Shedding light on the dire situation, Kardashian continued: “All five fires in Los Angeles have hundreds of firefighters trapped, risking their lives to save us.”

“They work at the Palisades and Eaton fire in Pasadena and work 24 hours a day,” she wrote. “They get paid next to 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.”

Pay for inmate firefighters is capped at $10.24 per day, This was reported by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Although Cal Fire supplements these wages by $1 per hour during emergencies, those at the bottom of the pay scale can earn less than $27 for a 24-hour shift.

In her post, Kardashian urged Newsom to “do what no governor has done in four decades and raise inmate firefighter pay to a rate” that “honors a human being who risks his life to protect our lives and save homes.”

Historically, as many as 30% of California’s fire departments came from the incarcerated population. According to a June 2024 report report from the Los Angeles Timesthose numbers dropped after the pandemic.

California is one of at least a dozen states that use inmates to fight fires when there aren’t enough professionals to handle emergencies.

Although the jobs can pay higher wages than other prison work and carry the possibility of a reduced sentence, California is allowed to pay so little through a state provision that allows forced labor as punishment for crime.

Voters had the opportunity last November to remove the so-called slavery exemption from the California Constitution, but the ballot initiative was rejected.