Fireboys is the untold story of young men incarcerated in California who are offered a way out: by fighting wildfires. 

Immersive and personal, this coming-of-age story is told from the perspectives of young men as they summon the courage to fight fires and confront their pasts. Alex Bailon, 18, who we meet in prison, and Chuy Hernandez, 20, who is about to be released after serving his sentence, have both enrolled as volunteer firefighters for the California Department of Corrections and Cal Fire’s conservation “fire” camp program. Among the 43 camps across the state, Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp alone is staffed exclusively by juveniles (young people under the age of 21). 

Following these young men from prison, fighting wildfires in the forests of California, and finally, back to their homes on the outside, Fireboys examines a correctional path that is both hopeful and destructive. California’s fire camps promote Alex and Chuy’s rehabilitation but also exploit their labor to address one of the state’s most urgent environmental problems.

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