SAN JOSE, Calif. — When Benjamin Fowler was serving a second 10-year prison term, he didn’t see a clear path forward to a new life after his time was up. He was in his mid-30s, with a young son, a teenage daughter and a 2023 release date. He figured he would try to get back into landscaping or become a carpenter.
Then in September of 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2147 into law, allowing incarcerated people who served as inmate firefighters to have their records expunged. Before its passage, many inmates were unemployable as firefighters after leaving prison because of their criminal records — even if they had spent years doing the exact same job, and even though California had a shortage of firefighters.
“As soon as I heard about that law being passed, it was probably a two-year process,” Fowler said. “But when I got to the fire camp, I knew that’s where I was supposed to be.”
Fowler, who was serving time for armed robbery, had to earn enough points in prison through good behavior to be eligible to apply to one of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation conservation fire camps. Once he got that far, he waited another three months on the yard before being chosen for training. After a month of physical training and another few months of waiting, he finally went out on his first fire assignment.
“I remember going out on my first fire, seeing people with posts back at basecamp saying, ‘Thank you inmate firefighters,’ ” Fowler said. “I had a moment, going back into my tent.”
Now a year out of prison, Fowler was scheduled to graduate on Saturday from a first-of-its-kind Bay Area program that helps formerly incarcerated firefighters land jobs in the industry. In a few weeks, he will start a new job as a firefighter for the Forest Service in Sonoma County.
In many ways, he is the face of this program’s success and the effect AB 2147 has on the lives of the formerly incarcerated. But the process of finding a job in firefighting is still an arduous process, and the program Fowler will graduate from, the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, aims to smooth the process.
Started by two formerly incarcerated firefighters in 2015 — there were some exceptions that allowed former inmates to work in the industry before AB 2147 passed — the program is a comprehensive, six-month endeavor that helps people earn the certifications they need to apply to federal and state fire jobs, provides training and supplies social workers to help them transition out of prison. The program started in Southern California and expanded to the Bay Area last year. This will be its first graduating class.
“When they’re with us, they’re choosing to be better people for themselves, for their friends and family, for their community,” said Cari Chen, the forestry and fire recruitment program’s Bay Area director. “It’s not just a job. It’s not just a career. It’s a lifestyle.”
It’s also a way to give people who have spent years in prison a new purpose, advocates say, and to show they can make meaningful contributions to their community. Studies have shown that having a full-time job helps reduce recidivism exponentially.
“When you’re in prison, you’re a number,” Fowler said. “But I was able to give back. It became a true drive.”
The work itself is demanding. Fowler served 31 months on a hand crew while in prison, digging in the soil for hours a day to create perimeters around fires to stop them from spreading. The job is not for everyone — of the 50 people who joined the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program with Fowler, only 10 were scheduled to graduate on Saturday.
But the lifestyle suited Fowler. Growing up, he was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. He previously owned a landscaping company and likes working outside with his hands.
Fowler appreciates the fact that people trust firefighters to be there for them on their worst day. Working on the fireline brought him to new, beautiful parts of the state — a far cry from the experience of being in prison.
Today, however, the best part of the job is hearing his 10-year-old son brag to his friends about what his dad does.
Starting in a few weeks, Fowler will be working on an engine crew in Mendocino National Forest just a few hours north of his home in Fairfield. He specifically waited for a job that would keep him close to his family.
“I have a lot of time to make up,” Fowler said. “I did 10 years the first time, and 11 years the second time. I’m going to be doing a lot of just being a dad.”
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