Firefighters and Camps, Inside CDCR Video

Eaton Fire: Feeding the CDCR fire crews

January 16, 2025

Lt. Manny Nunez describes the process for feeding so many crew members and staff.

Feeding the CDCR fire crews and support staff at the Eaton Fire incident command post takes a team.

This video looks at the process for feeding staff and the incarcerated while they rest at the command post in the Rose Bowl. The hand crews said they were well fed and appreciated staff efforts.

“We have a great sergeant that’s looking out for us, so, I appreciate it,” said one of the incarcerated crew members.

After cutting fire breaks and battling the blaze, crews are given a rest period. Then, they are back on, with another day on the fire lines in Southern California. Some of the hand crews at the Eaton Fire include Fenner Canyon, Oak Glen, Pine Grove, and Alder Conservation Camps.

Lt. Manny Nunez said staff and the incarcerated crews are served the same food.

“What comes out of the mobile kitchen unit here serves both the paid firefighters, staff, and support staff. It feeds us, the correctional staff, and feeds our incarcerated (fire crews),” he said.

Latest update as of Jan. 16:

CDCR Fire Camp Program crews are proud to be embedded with CAL FIRE personnel to protect lives, property, and natural resources in Southern California. As of today at 8 a.m., 1,116 Fire Camp crews have been working around the clock cutting fire lines and removing fuel from behind structures to slow fire spread, including 142 CDCR staff. CDCR fire crews are actively assisting CAL FIRE in responding to the Eaton and Palisades fires in Southern California.

Watch the video (story continues below):

Video by Pedro Calderón Michel, Deputy Press Secretary
Story by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
CDCR Office of Public and Employee Communications

Learn more about conservation camps and fire response.

Related content

A look at life in California conservation (fire) camps

A kitchen crew begins their shift. — A new sign has been erected near the parking lot. The metal posts will need work, according to Officer Byron Conner.

Intermountain Conservation Camp

In 2018, Inside CDCR visited Intermountain Conservation Camp #22 to look a life in a remote camp. Tucked away in the pine trees at the base of Big Valley Mountain, the camp is four miles north of the town of Bieber and its 300 residents. Surrounded by ranches and forest, Intermountain camp is home to some 70 incarcerated individuals. As one of the higher-elevation camps, they can get three feet of snow in the winter, requiring them to dig out. Read the original story.

CAL FIRE truck and staff. — CAL FIRE inspects incarcerated firefighters as well as the trucks.

Eel River Conservation Camp

In 2021, Inside CDCR visited Eel River Conservation Camp, the largest camp in California. Originally planned as a prison, the area was graded and leveled. Because of its layout and extra space, Eel River has proven valuable during fire season as a base of operations and staging area. “We have a mobile kitchen unit (MKU) in this larger camp,” said the camp commander at the time. “We are able to hold helicopters, logistics for CAL FIRE, and lodging for additional crews. We’ve done it twice in the seven years I’ve been here.” Using available resources, the camp has a sawmill, cutting their own lumber. One of the incarcerated residents, who has a lumber background, has taught others how to operate the mill, according to the camp commander. Read the original story.

Also, see how the camp hosts regional training in our 2017 story and the support crews who keep things running in the background: Behind the line: Eel River support crews assist mission.

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Learn more about firefighters and CDCR/CAL FIRE camps.