An estimated 800 of incarcerated persons were swiftly deployed to help fight the spread of ferocious wildfires that broke out in Los Angeles, California, leaving residents in utter misery and tbeir neighbourhoods like a bomb ravaged area.
The fierce wildfires burning beyond control and helped by forceful winds since Tuesday, swept districts in Los Angeles with rage.
It has kìlled at least 10 people and forced nearly 180,000 more from their homes but the authorities said the exact total number of deaths is still unknown.
It was learnt that dry conditions and powerful winds sparked at least five fires, causing unprecedented scenes in areas not known for fires, according to report.
The Palisades Fire which wrecked more havoc burned through more than 17,200 acres, almost 27 square miles, destroying 1,000 structures.
California’s Department of Corrections confirmed that nearly 800 incarcerated individuals are embedded with CalFire to slow the spread of the wildfires, as part of a voluntary program, according to the BBC.
CalFire has about 4,700 of its own first responders deployed now, so it’s a surprisingly significant number of incarcerated people supporting the response.
The California department of corrections and rehabilitation runs firefighting training camps across the state for prison inmates, who support authorities’ disaster response.
Over 1,800 incarcerated volunteer firefighters are housed in these camps, officials said. They typically earn little to no pay, according to rights groups.
In one of the fire affected neighborhoods – Pacific Palisades, a long time resident Marika Erdely and CEO of Green Econome, an energy sustainability company, said her home on Wakecrest Drive was still standing, wishing the raging fire could spare her home as it voraciously licks through the neighbourhood.
Peering through the Ring security camera in the back of the house, she could see that the structure seemed intact, although fires were ablaze at homes on either side of hers.
Erdely received confirmation that her place had not been burned down, according to BBC.
“Just amazing,” Erdely said from her daughter’s home in Santa Monica. She was grateful, but not celebrating. “It’s just horrible. My street and the other houses are gone. Two of my best friends in the neighborhood homes are gone. Almost all the homes on my street are gone. A war zone.”
“It’s really unbelievable, surreal,” she added.
Erdely described her community of 400 homes, most of them built in the 1960s, as special.
“It’s an incredible neighborhood on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. … You don’t leave this neighborhood unless you divorce or you die. Everyone knows everyone.”
