Kim Kardashian
Taylor Hill/Film Magic; ZUMAPRESS.com/MegaKim Kardashian She uses her massive platform to bring attention to a relatively unknown and neglected group of firefighters battling devastation Los Angeles fires.
“I've spent the last week watching my city burn,” Kardashian, 44, said in a series of posts shared via Instagram Stories on Saturday, January 11. “I have seen and spoken with so many firefighters who are up all night and using every ounce of their strength to save our community.” “.
“Thank you to California County Fire and Los Angeles City Fire for everything you do to save lives and property,” she added.
Kardashian then went on to praise the incarcerated firefighters battling the flames. (According to a recent report from New York TimesAt least 900 inmates are currently battling historic fires in and around the greater Los Angeles area.)
“In all five fires in Los Angeles, there are hundreds of imprisoned firefighters, risking their lives to save us,” Kardashian explained. “They are at the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire and Pasadena Fire, working 24-hour shifts. They get almost no pay, and they risk their lives, some of whom have died, to prove to the community that they have changed and are now first responders. I see them as heroes.”
According to California Department of Corrections and RehabilitationImprisoned firefighters in the area are “working to cut fire lines and remove fuel to slow the spread of the fires,” as the British newspaper “Daily Mail” reported. New York Times. “Their presence provides much-needed manpower to depleted fire crews,” the outlet wrote.
“Incarcerated firefighters were paid $1 an hour for risking their lives, and that pay has been the same since 1984,” Kardashian continues on her Instagram Stories. “It was never raised with inflation. It was never raised when the fires became severe and many (firefighters) died. This year, there was an agreement to raise the wage of an incarcerated firefighter to $5 an hour, but it was rejected at the last minute.”
Kardashian, who is also known for her advocacy work for prison reform, then urged California Governor Gavin Newsom to increase the pay that incarcerated firefighters receive when fighting wildfires.
“I urge @cagovernor to do what no governor has done in 4 decades, and raise wages for incarcerated firefighters to a rate that honors a human being who risks his life to save ours and our homes,” she wrote.
At least 16 people have died as a result of the five wildfires burning around Los Angeles, according to local officials. according to NBC NewsThe fires burned at least 37,000 acres and destroyed more than 12,000 buildings.
A number of Hollywood celebrities – from Milo Ventimiglia and Anthony HopkinsSay Eugene Levy and Paris Hilton – They lost their homes.
In her post on Saturday, Kardashian also thanked “the firefighters from CalFire Ventura Training Center for saving my community when the fire started this week.”
“These are all formerly incarcerated firefighters who have returned home and want to continue serving our communities as firefighters,” she continued. “Because of the bills passed by @antirecidivismcoalition, these men can now have their sentences reduced, and felonies expunged from their records for their fire service. And when they return home they can get six-figure jobs working for fire departments.”
verify LAFD website For local wildfire alerts and Click here For resources on how to help those affected.
