Inmate firefighter dies on his first day
The 33-year-old man collapsed near the end of a training hike.
An inmate firefighter died after he collapsed during a training hike at the Sierra Conservation Center in Northern California.
Anthony Colacino was on his first day on the job Saturday when, 50 minutes into the roughly hourlong hike, the 33-year-old inmate collapsed, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The fire captain on duty, along with four inmate firefighters, drove Colacino to the center’s firehouse, trying to save him by performing CPR in the vehicle and at the facility until an ambulance arrived, said Krissi Khokhobashvili, a corrections spokeswoman.
“Those inmate firefighters, they jumped into action,” she said. “They did what they’re supposed to do.”
Colacino — who had served more than a year of a four-year, four-month sentence out of Riverside County for two counts of evading a peace officer while driving recklessly, cruelty to animals and discharging a firearm with gross negligence — was pronounced dead soon after.
The Tuolumne County coroner will officially determine the cause of death.
The Sierra Conservation Center, which opened in 1965, is one of two state prisons that train male inmates and place them in the Conservation Camp program, whose members respond to fires, earthquakes and floods alongside first responders.
All inmates who participate go through physical and mental evaluations, Khokhobashvili said.