British Columbia saw many firefighting crews battle the wildfire blazes over the course of the summer.
Under supervision of BC Corrections staff, inmates from the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre (PGRCC), as well as centres in the Fraser region, Ford Mountain, and Nanaimo, provided support for the crews on the front lines.
“Most provincial inmates hail from B.C. communities and will return home at some point in the future.
In the meantime, even more inmates than in past years rose to the challenge and gave all they could to help British Columbians during the provincial state of emergency,” explains Mike Farnworth, Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General.
“My thanks to both correctional centre staff and the inmate crews for their contributions during this very challenging fire season.”
In the case of PGRCC, inmate crews went out and worked under the guidance of BC Wildfire Service fire camp co-ordinators.
Inmates would set up and take down firefighting base camps, assist with inventory of camp-related equipment and supplies, and maintain base camp equipment and facilities.
The inmates assigned to a crew have “open custody” status, which means they can be trusted to work in the community under supervision.
They would be chosen based on their history; they have performed and behaved exceptionally well during previous experience on other community work crews.
“For me, this wasn’t just about making time pass,” says one inmate participant with the Wildfire Suppression Program. “We got that it was important to a lot of people out there working the fire lines, so that really motivated us to get it done right.
“Some of the guys even showed up on their days off.”
The service is meant to give participants meaningful and rewarding work experience, while saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and staff resources.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
