Oregon Doubles Inmate Firefighting Force with Rigorous Training to Battle Summer Wildfires

By Lucille McNamara On May 17, 2025 Last updated May 17, 2025

Handline Tools — The AICs get an overview and demonstrate proper use of several wildland firefighting tools such as the Pulaski fire axe, McLeod tool, fire shovel, and fire rake. They then went up a hillside and made fire lines with those tools. | Courtesy: Oregon Dept. of Forestry

In a push to boost wildfire preparedness ahead of the summer season, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) this week completed a training course for 60 adults in custody (AIC) to serve on wildfire crews—a move that doubles the current number of trained inmates ready to assist on the fire lines.

The group completed a hands-on training course deep in the Tillamook State Forest, where they learned the critical skills needed to fight wildfires across western Oregon. They will be deployed in 10-man crews after completing the course with a week of classroom training and a hands-on field day at the South Fork Forest Camp (SFFC).

The men rotated through four stations where they practiced digging containment lines, operating portable water pumps, laying hose, and using personal fire shelters.

The unique program aims to prepare AICs for their return to society, offering them meaningful, rehabilitative work in collaboration between ODF and staff from its Forest Grove and Tillamook offices, along with SFFC personnel.

There are Now 120 Trained AICs to Assist With the Wildfire Fight This Summer

Dana Turner, ODF’s assistant camp manager, says another 60 AICs recently completed a refresher training course, bringing the total crew to 120 to fight fires this wildfire season.

Turner says the program grooms AICs for their return to society by giving them sought-after skills. She says many former AICs of the SFFC are working for the ODF as seasonal firefighters this year.

Last Year AICs Contributed 1,500 Days to Fighting Wildfires

All 120 AICs live at the South Fork Forest Camp, the only institution of its kind in Oregon. Established 74 years ago and operated by the Oregon Departments of Corrections and Forestry, the SFFC is an unfenced minimum security facility.

To be eligible for the South Fork program, individuals must have less than five years left to serve and face a selection process while still housed in other correctional institutions.

Apart from firefighting training, the SFFC AICs help with reforestation of Oregon’s state forests, maintain campgrounds, trails, and roads, undertake construction projects, and clear away debris.

Last year, the SFFC crews responded to 18 calls, contributing 1,500 man-days to wildfire fighting.

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