gotten so bad that it wasn t safe to breathe. so my wife and i took me, the asthmatic, my elderly parent, and our kids straight to vegas. not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was close and there were cheap flights. now back then, it seemed like a oneself-in-a-lifetime thing. rescue, what is your emergency? reporter: but ever since, the fires in california have gotten worse. dixie fire. woolsey fire. are more towns burned to the ground, more forests devastated and more refugees. this episode is about californians and fire, because we got to learn how to get along. now if you re thinking that you re safe because you live outside of california, nope. wildfires happen across america, from alaska to florida. and they happen all over the world. wildfires sweeping across australia. cape town. estonia and turkey. all the way to the north pole. and even if they aren t happening near you, the effects are definitely coming to your doorstep. there i
developed, we got a bigger problem. to quote george clooney from oceans 11, we need more people. yep, california has a shortage of firefighters. according to one report, in 2021, only half of u.s. forest service engines were fully staffed. state and federal agencies struggled to retain firefighters because burnout, long deployments, and often low pay. yeah, low pay to fight fires. and there is another reason california is running out of firefighters, and this reason might break your brain. since 1942, we ve been using low security inmates to fight fires. today approximately 1/3 of california s wildland firefighting case are currently incarcerated which saves california taxpayers approximately $100 million per year. but because of prison reform and the early release of some incarcerated folks since 2020, there are not enough people to throw at the fires.