As extreme heat, drought, and wildfires spread across the state, Arizona is allocating funding to pay incarcerated people fighting those wildfires $1.50 per hour. Incarcerated people clearing brush, in temperatures that hit 115°F in Phoenix for six days in a row last week, will make $1.00 per hour.
The Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits slavery, “except as a punishment for [a] crime” for which the person has been convicted. Wildfires, fueled by heat and drought made worse by climate change, have raged across the state in recent weeks, forcing numerous evacuations. Drought and demand to fight wildfires have depleted San Carlos Lake to the point where its water can no longer be used for that purpose.
The funding for incarcerated firefighters was included in a $100 million package passed in a special session that precluded raising their pay. Republicans who control the Arizona House rejected provisions guaranteeing rest for inmate crews who had worked seven straight days on the fire line.
Smoke from Arizona Wildfires Seen from Space. Over the course of twelve hours on June 14, the GOES West satellite captured this GeoColor imagery of brownish-gray smoke plumes rising from the Telegraph and Mescal fires in southeastern Arizona. GIF by NOAA
Sources: Incarcerated firefighters: Tuscon.com, KJZZ, Democracy Now; Drought: Arizona Family; Heat: AP; Evacuations: AP, AP; Commentary: Washington Post, Michael Crimmins op-ed $
Originally published by Nexus Media (image added by editor).
Featured photo by Matt Chesin on Unsplash
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