Why do California prisons use fire detection officers?

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California prisons They are increasingly dependent on an unusual fire alarm system: people.

Between 2020 and 2025, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has spent nearly $50 million on fire safety personnel. In recent years, prison staff have spent an estimated 270,000 hours watching for smoke or fire.

According to job postings reviewed by CalMatters, correctional officers patrol prisons and visually inspect various areas during their shifts.

That’s because most of California’s 31 prisons have poor fire alarm systems and would cost $1.5 billion to replace, according to annual report of the department presented in January.

Faced with outdated, faulty and non-functioning fire alarm systems, the State Fire Marshal’s Office ordered the department to maintain fire monitoring until it repairs or replaces its alarm systems.

“This process resulted in significant costs to the department in fire protection personnel costs,” corrections officials wrote in a recent budget request of $15.2 million to fund next year’s coverage.

That’s a pittance against the department’s $14.6 billion budget, but spending continues to rise.

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the department announced in June that it planned to spend roughly $40 million on fire protection coverage last year. That represents an additional cost of about $25 million, according to the same office.

According to estimates from the prison system’s facilities master plan, it costs between $3 million and $87 million to replace a single prison’s fire alarm system.

Caitlin O’Neill, senior fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which oversees the prison budget, explained that the department has historically used correctional officers for fire protection because that task requires keys and access to freely move around the prison. Your fire watch hours are usually counted as overtime.

According to the 2024 Salary Survey the base salary for an experienced correctional officer is $9,647 per month.

However, O’Neill said the department is exploring the possibility of achieving fire protection coverage with a cheaper job classification, recognizing that corrections officers have more options than just finding fires. According to O’Neill, the department is running a pilot fire monitoring program at Solano State Prison. There, fire watch positions are classified as “administrative assistants” and report to the correctional sergeant.

According to a job posting, the maximum salary for this position is $4,357 per month.

Royal Ramey, a former incarcerated firefighter who co-founded the nonprofit Forestry and Fire Recruiting Program, said fire safety in correctional facilities is non-negotiable.

“Inmates, as well as the staff of these centers, deserve reliable systems and robust emergency protection measures that ensure everyone’s safety,” he said. “In the event of a fire, there can be no gaps in protection. “But the priority must remain the protection of life, while continuing to develop permanent and reliable infrastructure solutions.”

But Matt Cate, who served as California prisons secretary under former governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown, said he’s skeptical of the spending because people are being paid to sit around and look for a problem that doesn’t exist.

“Large prison fires are extremely rare because they are made of concrete and steel,” he said. “Each prison has a fire service and staff present at all times. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

According to Kate, the state has very strict regulations in place to manage the risk of fires in prisons. He added that this forces the department to upgrade its fire alarm systems for hundreds of millions of dollars or require additional funds each year to comply with these regulations.

“It’s a little bit like deciding whether to buy the house or rent it,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s up to the governor’s office and the Legislature to decide how much to invest and how much to alleviate the problem by hiring more staff.”

Kristen Cowan, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo who studies the impact of extreme weather disasters in jails and prisons said he didn’t know it was legal for prisons to have non-working fire alarm systems.

“It’s basic disaster preparedness,” he said. “It’s certainly concerning to know that the technology is missing. It makes you wonder what else the facility is missing.”

Cowan said the department’s reliance on fire watchers instead of the latest technology can lead to long delays in finding fires, increasing the risk of injuries, deaths and harmful health effects from smoke exposure.

“We wouldn’t let anyone else live in a place that didn’t have a smoke detector,” he said.

Kayla Michalovich is an intern at California Local News.