Given The Choice Between Prison Life And Fighting Wildfires, These Women Chose Fire

NPR, July 30, 2021: Given The Choice Between Prison Life And Fighting Wildfires, These Women Chose Fire

“As climate change makes fire seasons hotter and longer in the U.S., about 20,000 firefighters are currently working to contain blazes across the country. For decades now, some of California's incarcerated population have been among those doing this lifesaving work, at great risk to their own lives.

One of those people was Shawna Lynn Jones. In 2016, she was working in one of the state's fire camps and fighting the Mulholland Fire in Malibu when a boulder the size of a basketball struck her in the head. She died a day later, becoming the first incarcerated woman in the state to lose her life after battling a wildfire.

Her death became a catalyst for Jaime Lowe's new book, Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Frontlines of California's Wildfires, which chronicles the life stories and challenges of incarcerated women like Jones, who are part of the state's wildfire crews. The book also takes a look at the state's history of mass incarceration, the origins of the fire-camp program and the impact of climate change in the state's wildfires.”

Additional reading:

Jaime Lowe’s Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California's Wildfires on bookshop.org

LA Times, September 28, 2021: Jaime Lowe on “Breathing Fire”

Oregon State University, Spring Creek Project: Lookout: Envisioning Futures with Wildfire
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