Colorado prison firefighters to expand and see raises as wildfire risk increases

Pay remains well below industry standards, which amounts to modern-day slavery, prison-reform advocates argue

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Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file
Mikayl Jones, front, picks up large cut logs as he and his crew work to clear hazard trees at the South Fork Campground in the Arapaho National Forest on June 26, 2008. The Colorado Correctional Industries (CCI) operates the State Wildland Inmate Fire Team program. The two crews working at this campground were made up of 12 inmates each from Buena Vista Correctional Center.
By Conrad Swanson | cswanson@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
November 20, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.

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Conrad Swanson | Denver City Hall Reporter

Conrad Swanson covers Denver politics on The Denver Post’s political team. An Iowa native, he joined the paper in November 2019 after stints at the Colorado Springs Gazette, Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas) and Sioux City Journal (Iowa). He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a focus in economics. He is a member of the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization and was awarded a 2019 fellowship for the National Press Foundation’s Spotlight on Statehouse and Local Reporting Program. He also won awards for sustained coverage in Colorado and political and investigative coverage in Kansas.