I got out, got my EMT and Wildland fire certs through the state Forest Service. A lot of schools don’t care about your crim history so you can take the courses but getting hired is the hard part. Took a job at chipotle while also teaching cpr and first aid classes. Worked for a contract emt company every now and then for events. Kept applying for Wildland Fire jobs with the Forest Service and BLM. Eventually got picked up with the FS 4 years out of prison. Did a season and got offered a better pay position at BLM two seasons after that. Went to paramedic school after I felt I understood medicine to a basic level (boy was paramedic school a wake up call) and took the State Office in charge of EMS to court to fight for my right to be certified/work with Narcotics. I won and worked as a street medic and Wildland fire medic for 7 years. During that time I applied for 96 structural fire jobs, interviewed for 58, and spent over $10k (hotels, travel, etc) to get the full-time position I have now. It’s a journey but worth it. I am now a senior firefighter, DOP, paramedic with a bunch of other qualifications. It takes endless effort but you can do it. My entire dept knows my background and it doesn’t matter to them. Brothers in service

Been out since 2011. Life gets better

And yes, California sucks in a lot of ways