LASD Fire Camp Inmates Help Glendora Prep for Storm

Twenty inmates assigned to the Los Angeles County Jail Fire Camp Training Facility were sent to the Glendora City Yard on Thursday to assist with the filling of sandbags in preparation for the heavy rainfall predicted for this weekend.

These inmates are part of the Prisoner Assistance Community Enhancement (PACE) program. There are 29 inmates assigned to the PACE crew of the 160 inmates assigned to the Fire Camp Training Unit. The inmates are part of the Public Safety Realignment Plan (AB109), which places lower security level inmates (“N3”, Nonviolent, Non-serious, Non-sexual) in the custody of local law enforcement agencies. The PACE crews consist of in-custody inmate workers who provide assistance for public service projects throughout Los Angeles County. These projects include trash clean-up, landscape maintenance, and miscellaneous projects. The inmates involved in both the Fire Camp and PACE program volunteer for the programs. Many of the inmates believe this is their way of giving back.

The inmates have been approved for work crew positions and are supervised by sworn personnel. Sworn personnel were sent with the inmates to the City of Glendora and were transported in two fully equipped, Sheriff’s Department ten passenger vans, each towing a trailer with work tools and portable toilet.

As Los Angeles County prepares for a second storm this weekend, the burn areas surrounding Glendora as a result of the Colby Fire present serious concern for the people who reside below the hillsides. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began reaching out to the various areas of concern to offer their inmate work force as a labor pool to assist with the filling of sandbags. On Wednesday, the City of Glendora declared the following ORANGE LEVEL emergency protocol in effect for the Colby Fire Burn Impact Area. The alert was raised to orange from yellow due to Weather Forecasts and the field conditions within the foothills of Glendora.

Sandbags can be obtained at the Glendora City Yard, 440 South Loraine Ave., Glendora.

—Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department