Kim Kardashian gives special shout-out to incarcerated firefighters battling deadly LA fires

Kim Kardashian gave a special shout out to incarcerated firefighters who are battling the devastating wildfires spread throughout Southern California.

The TV personality, 44 - who has been slammed as 'wasteful' along with other stars for breaking water-saving rules - shared a message on her Instagram stories on Saturday as blazes continue to rage.

The catastrophic infernos - including the Pacific Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire - sparked up earlier this week on Tuesday amid strong winds, with the death toll rising to 16 as of Saturday, per NBC News.

She penned, 'I have spent the last week watching my city burning. And have seen and spoken to many firefighters who are up all night long using every ounce of their strength to save our community.'

'Thank you to @calfire la County Fire and Los Angeles City Fire for everything you are doing to save lives, homes and property.'

In another slide, the reality star added, 'On all 5 fires in Los Angeles, there are hundreds of incarcerated firefighters, risking their lives to save us.'

Kardashian expressed that they are 'working 24 hour shifts' on both the Palisades and Eaton Fires. 

'They get paid almost nothing, risk their lives, some have died, to prove to the community that they have changed and are now first responders. I see them as heroes.' 

She explained to her followers that incarcerated firefighters have been paid $1 an hour since 1984 'to risk their lives.' 

'It has never been raised with inflation,' Kim pointed out. 'It's never been raised when fires got worse and many died.' 

'This year there was an agreement to raise the incarcerated firefighter pay to $5/hour, but it got shot down last minute.' 

Kardashian then referenced to California Governor, Gavin Newson, and wrote, 'I am urging @cagovernor to do what no Governor has done in 4 decades...' 

'And raise the incarcerated firefighter pay to a rate that honors a human being risking their life to save our lives and homes.' 

Lastly, the mother-of-four also sent her gratitude to the firefighters who helped save her community which had been threatened by the Kenneth Fire which began on Thursday. 

Kim and her family had been evacuated from their Calabasas and Hidden Hills mansions due to the blaze - but the evacuation orders were later lifted. 

The Kenneth Fire is now 80% contained, and an arson suspect was arrested this week - prompting Khloe Kardashian to give her furious reaction on social media.  

'I want to thank the firefighters from the @calfire Ventura Training Center for saving my community when it started burning this week,' Kim wrote.

'These are all FORMERLY incarcerated firefighters who have come home, and want to continue serving our community as firefighters.'

She expressed that, 'Due to bills passed by @antirecidivismcoalition, these guys can now get their sentences reduced, expunging the felonies from their records for their fire service.' 

In conclusion, Kim added, 'And when they come home can get six figure jobs working for the fire departments.' 

The SKIMS founder has often spoken out and been an activist for criminal justice reform over the years. 

In August 2024, she was joined by sister Kendall Jenner to visit incarcerated firefighters of the Pine Grove and Growlersberg Fire Camps. 

Along with sharing photos from the visit, Kim wrote about meeting the 'incredible' incarcerated firefighters who are 'working so hard at fighting these California fires.'

It comes as fury against 'wasteful, entitled' celebrities grew this week as stars including Kim, were accused of squandering vital water resources that could have been used to save homes.

Strict water-conserving measures have been in place since 2022, with ‘ordinary’ residents restricted to watering their gardens twice a week for eight minutes at a time.

Kardashian, who lives in a $60 million house in The Oaks – an exclusive gated community near the epicenter of one of this week’s fires – was fined by city authorities that year for using 232,000 gallons of water more than her allocation.

Other celebrities including Sylvester Stallone and comedian Kevin Hart were also fined.

The Mail on Sunday understands that The Kardashians star has since installed water-saving measures.

A neighbor of Kim told the Mail on Sunday: 'These celebrities have a sense of entitlement.'

'Everyone was told to cut back on water precisely for this situation, to preserve it to fight fires. They carried on watering because they could afford the fines.'

Anger was also growing at rich people hiring private firefighters for $2,000 an hour to protect their properties. 

Chris Dunn, owner of Covered 6 - which provides the service to Hollywood's elite - told the Mail on Sunday: 'My phone has been ringing off the hook. Demand has never been higher.'

One wealthy source said: 'This week's events have shown you can't trust the city to protect your property. I have the money, so why not?' 

Kim was also slammed for promoting an upcoming sale for her SKIMS brand on Wednesday while the fires continued to rage. 

Earlier this week on Tuesday, catastrophic blazes began amid strong Santa Ana winds, resulting in over 10,000 structures being destroyed and the death toll rising to 16 as of Saturday, per NBC. 

In the Palisades Fire alone - which began on Tuesday morning - an estimation of around 5,300 structures have been destroyed which includes homes, churches and schools.

A number of residents and stars lost their homes this week, including Miles Teller, Mel Gibson and Paris Hilton.

A total of around 22,660 acres have been destroyed in the Palisades blaze as of Saturday night, NBC reported.

Over 100,000 people are still under evacuation orders as firefighters continue to put out the fires throughout Southern California - with winds set to pick up once again early next week.

Aside from the Palisades and Eaton blazes, other infernos have since sparked up this week such as the Kenneth Fire and Hurst Fire. 

On Saturday, firefighters have been working on a flare up of the Palisades blaze near Brentwood.

1,680 National Guard troops have made their way to Southern California to offer assistance - as the death toll has now risen to 16.