Kim Kardashian plunged into the news once again, becoming an advocate for social justice while championing more than 1,000 firefighters incarcerated, whose lives have become a means to fight fires happening in California. She highlighted a huge chasm between the value of heroic contribution they make to combat wildfires in California and earning meager wages, implores the governor, Gavin Newsom, to increase pay-a request which is presently universally debated.
The media personality and would-be lawyer recently lamented the poor working conditions of jailed firefighters with low wages through social media. Notably, she urged the Governor Newsom to boost their wages at least to five dollars per hour. “These firefighters are out there risking it all to save our communities, and their pay is the furthest from fair compensation it gets,” read the statement signed by Kardashian.
Incarcerated firefighters in California currently make between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, with an additional $1 per hour during emergencies. What’s even more astonishing: These rates have not been changed since 1984, despite inflation and rising frequency and intensity of wildfires. Kardashian brought this glaring injustice into sharp focus, calling for the long-needed policy adjustment reflective of the value of their contributions.
The risks are just immense for incarcerated firefighters. They work in hazardous conditions for 24-hour shifts, fighting some of the most destructive wildfires ever. Tragically, a few have died in the line of duty, but that does not stop them from remaining indispensable to California’s team of wildland responders, sometimes making up as much as 30% of the state’s firefighting force.
Kardashian’s social media posts gave human faces to that issue, acclaiming the valour and pledge of these guys. “I view them as heroes,” she wrote. Such sentiments are then shared by others who feel that these firefighters need credit and compensation for being lifesavers.
It includes the Ventura Training Center, a program Kardashian has publicly lauded, which provides much-needed rehabilitation for those behind bars. The program trains inmates as firefighters; upon completion, this can result in sentence reduction and felony record expungement. Many graduates of the program have found professional firefighting jobs and go on to earn six-figure salaries while continuing to serve their communities.
Kardashian also cited stories of formerly incarcerated firefighters who had turned their lives around. “These are people who have shown that they want to make it right with society,” she added, pressing for policymakers to give due consideration to the effectiveness of such rehabilitation.
The issue of prison labor has been in debate for a long time on ethical grounds. In California, inmates are often made to work as part of their sentence, which critics call modern-day slavery. In 2024, voters rejected Proposition 6 aimed at ending forced labor in prisons, as 53.3% voted to retain the current status quo.
Kardashian’s advocacy renews debates in the larger ramification of prison labor, that this system, in its current form, undervalues human life and any contribution an incarcerated individual can make to society. Kardashian’s efforts have really driven home the systemic need for reform to alleviate these concerns.
Over the years, the wildfires in California have become more disastrous. The recent wildfires in Los Angeles have taken at least 16 lives, displaced over 200,000 residents, and destroyed several thousand homes. Inmates behind bars have been helping actively put out the fire with professional firefighters to save the community.
Kardashian ended her messages with an impassioned call to change policies: “I am urging @cagovernor to do what no Governor has done in 40 years and raise the incarcerated firefighter pay to a rate that honours a human being risking their life to save ours,” she penned. She also said her thanks went out to the Ventura Training Center for taking them in, among others, who make it possible to restart their lives hand in hand.