Dear John xxxxxx, 

As wildfires rage and homes are evacuated throughout California, I am reminded of how I found myself and my pathway to redemption as an incarcerated fire fighter. 

For me, it began with a desire to escape from the dark and dreary environment of prison in order to reconnect with nature. The fire camp program also gave me the opportunity to get home sooner to my family.

While I was surprised by the tremendous experience the program provided me, I could never have imagined how consequential the work would be to my personal transformation.  

There’s something particularly cathartic about being out in the field protecting the community. It’s like making living amends—not just with words but with real life actions.    

Whether you’re in front of the fire line or behind it, you’re working hard and giving it your best. Most importantly, your mindset is changing… new thoughts are forming and old behaviors are transformed. You are working side by side with real-life heroes and soon enough you realize that you’re a hero too. You finally start to forgive yourself, and that is where the healing begins.

When it’s time to parole, you have built confidence, you have gained hard-earned new skills, and you are a fully qualified wildland firefighter with the experience to back it up. However, all these things aren’t “good enough” to get you hired as a civilian firefighter— your qualifications are overshadowed by a sentence which you have already served in full. In fact, this has been an ongoing problem since World War I, when inmate fire crews were first established. 

Just last year, ARC and our partners were excited to announce that California began working to hire formerly incarcerated firefighters. The Governor’s office, along with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), CAL FIRE, and California Conservation Corps (CCC) joined forces with ARC to create the Ventura Training Center (VTC). VTC is the first-of-its-kind firefighter cadet training program for people on parole.

Last month we watched 16 of our men graduate from the CAL FIRE academy. 24 hours later, they loaded up and rolled out for their first strike team assignment.  

As I write this, the men are returning home from a 24-hour shift working alongside some of the same bosses who had supervised them while they were previously incarcerated. These bosses gave them compliment after compliment—for a job well done and for their hard work and dedication.  

Not too long ago these same firefighters were still incarcerated, which meant that they had to complete the same duties… but ate separately, slept on the ground, and had to be accompanied by a correctional officer just to use the restroom. Now, our VTC graduates stand side by side with other CAL FIRE firefighters and are put up in hotels and don’t need to be searched just to go home.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of VTC’s opening, I can’t help but reflect on the enormous opportunity VTC offers our members: to be heroes to their families and to their community. This is rehabilitation at its finest, and history in the making. 

Thank you for being part of our journey. We hope you and your families stay safe during this fire season.  
 
Warm regards, 

Michelle Garcia 
Ventura Training Center (VTC) 
Program Coordinator 
Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC)