Inmate firefighting crews received a special visit from a major celebrity last week.
Celebrity Kim Kardashian visited Crew 3, Crew 5 and Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp at the Growlersburg Conservation Camp on Thursday to learn more about the fire programs operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Cal Fire’s Amador-El Dorado unit.
“These incredible men are incarcerated firefighters saving our state, homes and communities from fire,” the star wrote in a caption on her Instagram Saturday. The photo shows her and her half-sister Kendall Jenner posing with a group of incarcerated firefighters.
California has long depended on inmates to battle wildfires through its conservation camp programs. Last year, CDCR expanded the Growlersberg program to include inmates aged 18 to 26. Participants earn $6 to $10 a day and may have the opportunity to fully expunge their felony record after their release. The program is also intended to serve as a gateway for those interested in a career in firefighting upon release.
Kardashian, known for her family’s reality show and business ventures, has taken an interest in criminal justice reform in recent years. In April, she met with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House for a roundtable discussion on criminal justice reform. Previously, she met with former President Donald Trump to encourage him to commute the sentence of Alice Johnson, a 63-year-old woman serving a life sentence without parole for a nonviolent drug offense.
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