[M T]

Also, a lot of "volunteer" firefighters are state prisoners. Unfortunately, because COVID-19 has spread like (pardon the pun) wildfire in the prisons, a lot of the firefighting manpower is simply not available.

I might have had the same thought that the firefighters come straight out of big prisons to join the fire lines.  That isn't the case, so the impact of COVID-19 on California inmate firefighters is more complex.  

Prisoners volunteer to join the Conservation Camp program, run by the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), and the Los Angeles Fire Department  "An inmate must volunteer for the fire camp program; no one is involuntarily assigned to work in a fire camp. Volunteers must have “minimum custody” status, or the lowest classification for inmates based on their sustained good behavior in prison, their conforming to rules within the prison and participation in rehabilitative programming.  Some conviction offenses automatically make an inmate ineligible..."

Last year, 2150 inmates to 2600 inmates were authorized to fight fires. This year, California indicates 2200 inmates (includes male & females) are authorized to fight fires.  These individuals are spread out over 43 Conservation Camps (involving a total of 3100 inmates).  So the average inmate population of each camp is 72 inmates.

Overall, the California prison population is roughly 96,000, a decrease of 18,000 (-15.8%) since mid-March.  I imagine that the first to have been given early release were low-security prisoners with records of good behavior, that would have qualified for the Conservation Camp programs.

California indicates that 329 inmates were released with active COVID-19 infections.  Of the 96,000 in prisons, 1282 have active COVID-19 cases, 8060 are "resolved" (released from isolation), and 55 died.   Roughly, an equal number of staff have active cases as inmates.

Per cumulative patients tested, 6,654 patients have been tested in the last 14 days.  Per institution numbers, 24,129 have been tested in the last 14 days.  The only explanation for the different numbers I can come up with is that inmates are tested multiple times in 2 weeks.

Getting back to the firefighters, California says "Currently, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state’s Conservation Camp Program and there are no conservation camps on quarantine." [This information is apparently as of Aug 12 or before. I don't know if it has changed in the last week].

I believe this to mean that there is full availability of the prisoners who can help CalFire at this time.  I believe that the number of such firefighters is approximately what it was before Covid.

Two centers provide the training for prisoners.  "The California Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville serves as the primary hub for providing training and placement of inmates in Northern California conservation camps. Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) in Jamestown serves as the primary hub for Southern California conservation camps."

When those centers have COVID-19 cases, the workers trained there can't move to the Conservation Camps until things are under control. 
CCC (2990 inmates) has been closed since June, and has 57 cases in the last 2 weeks.
SCC had 3 cases on August 12 (only previous case was May 23).  It has an inmate population of about 3400.  I suspect it has just recently been closed.  Prior to that, it was training 120 firefighters a month.  

So, the training pipeline is currently shut down.  Potentially, SCC may open in 2 weeks if no more cases arise.

[M T]

Also, a lot of "volunteer" firefighters are state prisoners. Unfortunately, because COVID-19 has spread like (pardon the pun) wildfire in the prisons, a lot of the firefighting manpower is simply not available.

I might have had the same thought that the firefighters come straight out of big prisons to join the fire lines.  That isn't the case, so the impact of COVID-19 on California inmate firefighters is more complex.  

Prisoners volunteer to join the Conservation Camp program, run by the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), and the Los Angeles Fire Department  "An inmate must volunteer for the fire camp program; no one is involuntarily assigned to work in a fire camp. Volunteers must have “minimum custody” status, or the lowest classification for inmates based on their sustained good behavior in prison, their conforming to rules within the prison and participation in rehabilitative programming.  Some conviction offenses automatically make an inmate ineligible..."

Last year, 2150 inmates to 2600 inmates were authorized to fight fires. This year, California indicates 2200 inmates (includes male & females) are authorized to fight fires.  These individuals are spread out over 43 Conservation Camps (involving a total of 3100 inmates).  So the average inmate population of each camp is 72 inmates.

Overall, the California prison population is roughly 96,000, a decrease of 18,000 (-15.8%) since mid-March.  I imagine that the first to have been given early release were low-security prisoners with records of good behavior, that would have qualified for the Conservation Camp programs.

California indicates that 329 inmates were released with active COVID-19 infections.  Of the 96,000 in prisons, 1282 have active COVID-19 cases, 8060 are "resolved" (released from isolation), and 55 died.   Roughly, an equal number of staff have active cases as inmates.

Per cumulative patients tested, 6,654 patients have been tested in the last 14 days.  Per institution numbers, 24,129 have been tested in the last 14 days.  The only explanation for the different numbers I can come up with is that inmates are tested multiple times in 2 weeks.

Getting back to the firefighters, California says "Currently, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state’s Conservation Camp Program and there are no conservation camps on quarantine." [This information is apparently as of Aug 12 or before. I don't know if it has changed in the last week].

I believe this to mean that there is full availability of the prisoners who can help CalFire at this time.  I believe that the number of such firefighters is approximately what it was before Covid.

Two centers provide the training for prisoners.  "The California Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville serves as the primary hub for providing training and placement of inmates in Northern California conservation camps. Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) in Jamestown serves as the primary hub for Southern California conservation camps."

When those centers have COVID-19 cases, the workers trained there can't move to the Conservation Camps until things are under control. 
CCC (2990 inmates) has been closed since June, and has 57 cases in the last 2 weeks.
SCC had 3 cases on August 12 (only previous case was May 23).  It has an inmate population of about 3400.  I suspect it has just recently been closed.  Prior to that, it was training 120 firefighters a month.  

So, the training pipeline is currently shut down.  Potentially, SCC may open in 2 weeks if no more cases arise.