safety
Why California prisons are using their own employees as human fire alarms
Summary by The Los Angeles Editorial Desk Cayla Mihalovich | CalMatters , as published by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio)
· July 27, 2026
· 1 min read
Photo: LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) · view original
Story provenance No corrections
Summary created by The Los Angeles Editorial Desk — automated, rule-governed Byline on source page Cayla Mihalovich | CalMatters, as published by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) Original story Read at the source Source published Jul 27, 2026 Indexed here Jul 29, 2026 AI assistance Automated summary drawn from the source’s own published text Prepublication human review No — editorial rules, flagged-item review, and published samples
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Key takeaway The total expenditure between 2020 and 2025 was nearly $50 million.
California's prison system has a unique approach to fire safety. A significant amount of money has been spent on staffing costs for this purpose. The total expenditure between 2020 and 2025 was nearly $50 million.
Prison employees are tasked with monitoring for fires, patrolling areas, and inspecting for smoke during their shifts. This is due to inadequate fire alarm systems in most of the state's prisons. Further information on this issue is available from CalMatters, including details on the cost of replacing the deficient systems and the hours spent by employees on fire watch duties.
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As published by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) . The Los Angeles surfaces reporting from trusted publishers and adds local editorial context so readers can quickly understand what a story means for their community. We attribute every source, link to the original report, and follow a documented editorial standards policy. To understand how stories are selected and reviewed, read our about page .
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Category: safety Published: July 27, 2026 Source: LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) Reading time: 1 min
Frequently asked about this story
What is this story about? California's prison system has a unique approach to fire safety. A significant amount of money has been spent on staffing costs for this purpose. The total expenditure between 2020 and 2025 was…
When was this published? This article was first published on July 27, 2026 by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) and curated for The Los Angeles readers.
Who reported this story? This story was reported by Cayla Mihalovich | CalMatters at LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio). To learn more about how The Los Angeles selects and reviews stories, see our editorial standards .
Where can I find related coverage? See more safety coverage from The Los Angeles, or browse our daily briefing and topic hubs .
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