SECOND SHIFT · FROM THE FIELD
Spokane, Washington · Wildland firefighting · Reentry
Original reporting: Belle Lewis, KHQ (NonStop Local) · September 30, 2026, updated October 1, 2026
Luis Ramos had been incarcerated for about 13 years when he started hearing about wildland firefighting, KHQ’s Belle Lewis reports. He joined the program offered at his institution and spent about three and a half years on an incarcerated fire crew. “I think I was hooked,” he told the station. Ramos said he did 20 years in all.
While working at Airway Heights, Ramos saw the Arcadia 20 crew carrying radios, which incarcerated crews were not allowed to have, and decided he wanted in. “I would work even harder and do what I needed to do, because this was someone that I wanted to be,” he said. “So I went through the process and I got blessed with the interview. I got the job. And ever since I’ve been here, it’s just been like a big family.”
Ramos is now one of 18 members of Arcadia 20, a transitional hand crew working from a staging facility in Spokane, and will spend 18 months on fire season and fuels mitigation, according to the report. KHQ describes the crew’s members as partially incarcerated; Ramos told the station he was incarcerated for assaults. “When I was growing up, I kind of felt like I was taking away from the community,” he said. “Now I feel pride for giving back to the community.”
Location Decision takeaway
About 250 incarcerated firefighters work Washington’s fire lines each summer from three facilities, according to Department of Natural Resources data cited by KHQ. A transitional crew such as Arcadia 20 adds a step between a prison program and the outside labor market, with more responsibility and an 18-month assignment. For states facing long fire seasons and year-round fuels work, converting prison-trained firefighters into crew members is one way to hold on to people they have already trained. That is our analysis; the facts are as reported.
Second Shift tells the stories of people building what’s next through new skills, new careers and second chances. From the Field items are curated from credited reporting, with Location Decision’s perspective. Location Decision Originals are independently reported by our team.
Curated by Location Decision. Originally reported by Belle Lewis, KHQ, September 30, 2026.
This item was sourced and drafted with AI assistance and reviewed under Location Decision’s editorial standards. Second Shift tracks workforce outcomes to inform our broader editorial analysis. All reporting belongs to the credited journalists; read the original story for the full account.