Sal Almanza has worked 24-hour shifts in grueling terrain, cutting fire lines and hauling away brush trying to keep ahead of fires that have devastated several Los Angeles neighborhoods. But when the fires are finally out, he won't be going back to his family: He'll be returning to the prison "fire camp" where he's serving time for drunken driving that injured someone.

"I wanted to do something positive while I was here," the 42-year-old said. "Something that would contribute back to the community and just help me feel better about my situation and right the wrongs that I did."

Over 1,100 California inmates have been working around the clock in challenging conditions - including howling winds and toxic smoke - to help Cal Fire battle the Eaton and Palisades fires, the largest and most destructive of about a half-dozen fires that burned in the Los Angeles area in the past two weeks.

They become firefighters for the chance to cut time off their sentences, to get outside the prison walls and for training that might help them land a job once they're out.

But some say the inmates, many earning less than $30 a day for their efforts, deserve better after risking their lives: to be paid on par with other firefighters.