‘1 dollar per hour’: Kim Kardashian demands better pay for firefighters risking their lives amid LA wildfires

Kim Kardashian, LA firefighters Pic/Instagram, AFP

Reality TV star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian has demanded better pay for firefighters risking their lives amid the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles. Kim took to her Instagram stories and mentioned how they're working 24-hour shifts despite getting paid only one dollar an hour (Rs 86). She highlighted that their salary has been the same since 1984 and urged the government to give them a well-deserved hike.

Kim Kardashian demands salary hike for firefighters

Kim Kardashian wrote on her Instagram stories, "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."

She continued, "On all 5 fires in Los Angeles, there are hundreds of incarcerated firefighters, risking their lives to save us. They are on the Palisades fire and Eaton fire in Pasadena working 24-hour shifts. They get paid almost nothing, risk their lives, and some have died, to prove to the community that they have changed and are now first responders. I see them as heroes."

"The incarcerated firefighters have been paid $1 / hour to risk their lives, and this pay has been the same since 1984. It has never been raised with inflation. 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. 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," added Kim.

Destruction caused by LA wildfires

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the death toll from the wildfires ravaging the area has risen to 16. Since the fires first began on Tuesday just north of downtown Los Angeles, they have burned more than 12,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings, and vehicles. No cause has been determined for the largest fires, and early estimates indicate the wildfires could be the nation's costliest ever.

Celebs such as Paris Hilton, Adam Brody, Leighton Meester, Anna Faris, Spencer and Heidi Pratt, Cameron Mathison, and Jennifer Hewitt have lost their homes to the fires.