County officials will now be able to quickly call inmate work crews to help with flooding relief and other non-fire emergency related work as the expected El Nino rolls around.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to make it easier for Cal Fire to contract inmates to help. The agreement means County officials can now immediately access the work crews and call them for help, instead of requesting the crews with the state government and waiting for assistance.
Cal Fire in San Diego manages approximately 500 inmates on local work crews. One of those crews can fill about 300 sandbags per hour.
The inmates live at nearby camps in Boulevard, Rainbow, Warner Springs and at La Cima Conservaton Camp in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
A similar agreement is in place for inmate crews for help with other types of work, including firefighting and weed abatement.
