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Former Incarcerated Firefighter on Prison-to-Public Service Pipeline - FFRP graduates have a recidivism rate of less than 10% compared to the 42% 3-year recidivism rate for those released by the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation.

Discover how Royal Ramey’s Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program transforms lives, trains firefighters, and combats California’s wildfire crisis.

Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson are joined by Chief Royal Ramey, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP). Chief Ramey founded FFRP to help individuals who are formerly incarcerated and worked in fire camps overcome the barriers that prevent them from entering the professional field of fire fighting and speaks about the incarcerated fire fighters fighting the Los Angeles, California Wildfires.

The jobs are highly coveted, offering training and reduced sentences, but face criticism over low wages.

Royal Ramey runs a non-profit called the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program. He says it’s especially difficult to get municipal firefighting jobs once inmates are released. “They require you to have an EMT, and obviously they have a background check, all that type of stuff. So it’s really difficult to get into that arena,” Ramey said.

On this episode of Vibe Check, Sam and Zach talk about the devastating fires in Southern California. Then, they speak with former incarcerated firefighter, Royal Ramey, about his experiences in an inmate fire camp. Plus, a few recommendations to keep your vibe right.

Royal Ramey, co-founder and CEO of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, says he turned a “negative into a positive,” leading to a career he loves. Ramey previously worked as a firefighter while incarcerated and now wants to help others follow a similar path. “My experience was a roller coaster emotionally and physically,” Ramey said during an appearance on “Banfield.” “Now, I’m trying to help others find that path as well.”

"A big shout out to all the first responders and volunteers that's out there serving the L.A. Community. They are the majority of the folks that's out there fighting the fires right now, they are spread out across California. So you got about 35 camps. And throughout the state, um, in southern and northern California. And the program been around since the 1940s, thousands of people being a part of the program. And it actually changed my life."

Chief Royal Ramey, co-founder of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, joins ABC News Live to discuss incarcerated firefighters and the LA wildfires.

According to reports, nearly 1,000 California incarcerated firefighters are currently fighting wildfires in the state. Some have criticized the practice due to the low pay for the firefighters, but Royal Ramey, a former inmate and co-founder of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, says the program helps create career opportunities for inmates upon release.

While California officials have recently passed reforms expanding opportunities for former inmates, Ramey noted that barriers to employment persist, a struggle which inspired his nonprofit. He argued that Fire Camp could be part of the solution, and said that many people who went through fire training are equipped to help in emergencies once their sentences are finished. “They can contribute to the labor shortage we have here, and why not give them the opportunity to become wildland firefighters to support the state and to be able to get a family and a career,” he said.

Ramey is the co-founder and chief program officer of his own nonprofit, the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, where he helps fellow formerly incarcerated individuals find paths to employment in forestry and wildland firefighting. The FFRP has a 10% rate of recidivism, compared to the California state average of 41.9%. It’s a difficult situation, Ramey says. On the one hand, he found his “calling” as a firefighter while in prison, and he “fell in love” with the work.

"Look, there's very little pay. You know, we're talking dollars here, but they're getting experience and our job is to try to get them a pathway so they can be able to have a good career once they come home. And that's one of the reasons why my co-founder, Brandon Smith, and I that started the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program. We are a training career training program that equips people coming home from prison and others from marginalized communities for careers protecting the environment and serving our community as firefighters. And we do this in four ways, Victor - We recruit, we train, and we help them get a job. We mentor them throughout their career. And we have graduates out there right now in the field in L.A. right now. And we're so proud of them."

"You're getting pennies compared to the other folks that's alongside of you. You're just cheap labour," Royal Ramey, a former incarcerated firefighter and co-founder of the non-profit Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP), told the BBC.

"And if you do pass away while fighting fires, you don't get any benefits from that," he continued.

This is the story of how this revolutionary program became a reality and how the first Bay Area cohort of formerly incarcerated men and women took on the challenge in hopes of a better future despite overwhelming personal and societal obstacles.

Despite being trained and working as a firefighter while incarcerated in California, Anthony Pedro struggled to find work in the role after his release thanks to rules largely barring ex-offenders from receiving required certifications. So Pedro took matters into his own hands and launched the Future Fire Academy, a program designed to help others like him to get work as professional firefighters.

A year out of prison, Benjamin Fowler is graduating from a first-of-its-kind Bay Area program

It is a second chance for 15 men who will be crossing a finish line next week after completing a strenuous firefighting program in the Bay Area.

The graduates come from different backgrounds and parts of the Bay Area, but they have one thing in common: they are all formerly incarcerated.

The Program tackles California criminal justice, workforce shortages, and climate challenges

Two powerful stories on the power of perseverance and redemption, and the role REDF and employment social enterprise played. Narrated by Rob Lowe, featuring Brandon Smith, Co-Founder of Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program and Nyeshia Brunson of Civicworks.