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Big Sur, California: The fire whirl came spinning up the steep slopes of Big Sur like a dust devil of flame. It headed for the new guy on the fire crew, Billy Gray, who threw on his shroud and bowed his head just in time. The whirl washed over him, then exploded into a grass fire.
"I turned and yelled, 'Spot fire!' I thank God I didn't get burned," says Gray, recounting his recent baptism as a prison inmate-turned-firefighter. More than one in ten firefighters here at the Basin Complex - California's biggest blaze - are trained state prisoners.
Despite the danger and 24-hour shifts involving 900-metre climbs with 20 kilogram packs, Gray pushes on. "Plenty of times I've wanted to quit," he says. "It teaches you to persevere."
With 2,500 trained prisoners currently fighting fires, California's inmate firefighting programme has proved invaluable as the state struggles to throw enough manpower at this year's lightning-strike siege. The 60-year-old programme even seems to be weathering the budget crunch in Sacramento.
For the prisoners, firefighting fosters new growth in their character.
"We can be going from one fire to another driving down the highway, and people pull up just saying thank you," says firefighter Anthony Candido, who is dressed in an orange corrections jumpsuit. "Even though I have to wear these colours, I still feel important."
Residents are trickling back into Big Sur, an artsy community in central California tucked against dramatic seaside slopes. While firefighters have made progress containing the area of the inferno, the fire's presence in the mountains above can still be felt along coastal Highway 1.
The seasonal Pacific fog mingles with smoke, and ash comes down in gentle flurries. "We heart firefighters" signs line the road and windows.
If anyone is worried about having convicts working the fire lines, it's not Craig Allan, manager of a newly reopened pub here. "I'm glad to have anybody come here and help," he says. "What's worse: Having someone break into the building or having it go up in flames?"
The programme has had few escapes or incidents of misbehaviour, say officials.
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