Great idea about eliminating the convict fire camps. /s From experience, I know they mostly cut fire breaks and clear brush. They are NOT on the front lines as Hotshots. They are back up.
Okay, to be honest, I was stationed at a juvenile detention fire-fighting camp (Saugus, CA) back in 1967 for a time. Not only cutting fire breaks, we actually fought brush/grass fires. After I shortly left, my crew #4 was caught in a flareup that raced up a hill and were all destroyed. It was much like what happened to the Granite Mountain Hotshots in the movie. I lost 2 friends. I had that survivor guilt going for a while. They stopped sending juveniles into fires.
Don't know what they do with adult convict fire-fighters, so my above may be wrong.
You guys were probably at some of the same fire camps as I was.
CHILAO HOTSHOTS, CREW 1-5-3; 67/68
Of course I wasn’t at what we called a CON CAMP.