FIRE Act

The FIRE Act (Fairness, Inclusion, Rehabilitation, and Expungement for Incarcerated Firefighters Act) would, for the first time at the federal level, extend labor standards, safety protections, and reentry supports to people incarcerated who perform firefighting and emergency response work inside correctional facilities. It would add incarcerated firefighters to the protections under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), require states and the federal Bureau of Prisons to monitor and report on safety conditions, and create programs to help former incarcerated firefighters reenter the workforce. In addition, the bill creates a process for expunging certain offenses after successful completion of sentence conditions. It would also establish federal grant programs to help states cover incarcerated firefighters under their safety laws and to fund reentry services for former incarcerated firefighters. In short, the measure seeks to improve safety and pay fairness for incarcerated firefighters, support their post-release careers, and provide a mechanism to expunge certain past convictions after probation or fulfillment of sentence terms.