KarmaTube Video

While asking incarcerated people to fight fires has been viewed with some controversy by outsiders, this film provides another viewpoint from those who are on the frontlines fighting fires. When wildfires rage in California and in other states, incarcerated people are often asked to step into the danger of fighting the flames. This is dangerous, underpaid work, but it also creates a shift for many incarcerated people who gain power and agency by seeing themselves as having something of value to offer to society after they made a mistake by committing a crime. They say they gained a sense of freedom and purpose in life that would otherwise have been spent behind bars. TED Fellow Royal Ramey was one of them. He shares the story of how doing public service in prison inspired him to co-found the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, a nonprofit helping formerly incarcerated people become wildland firefighters — and find purpose along the way.