There’s a good chance that the firefighter saving you from a wildfire is actually an incarcerated person. As of summer 2021, about 1,600 work at conservation camps, also called fire camps, in California. These are minimum-security facilities staffed by incarcerated people who both volunteer and then qualify for the program based on their conviction offenses and behavior in prison. Other incarcerated persons serve at institutional firehouses. Once they finish serving their sentences, some migh...

The West on Fire: Climbing the Tower

Western Edition -- a podcast from Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and hosted by its director William Deverell, historian of the American West -- seeks to engage Angelenos, Californians, and Westerners as critical thinkers, conscious consumers, and informed community members. The podcast tells the fascinating stories of the people and communities of our region, connecting the past to the present, and demonstrating the tightly woven fabric of history.&nbsp;The forth season, Hidden Pasadena, digs deep into the “Crown City” of the San Gabriel Valley.The third season, Memorializing the West, explored historical memory, commemoration, and memorialization across the American West.&nbsp;The second season, L.A. Chinatown, examined the past, present, and future of one of L.A.’s oldest neighborhoods and one of the first Chinese American cultural centers in the U.S.&nbsp; The first season, The West on Fire, looked at the West’s relationship with fire.&nbsp;Western Edition is produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Eryn Hoffman. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.