Some context from the article was left out of OP's summary:
The department said inmates would work cutting fire lines and removing fuel from behind structures to help slow the spread of the blazes - as well as serving in wider support roles at the camps, including cooking, laundry and water treatment plant operation.
Some further, even more important context from the original CBS article mentioned in OP's article can be found here:
The word you need to use is 'slaves'.
Just need a consultational amendment to change it. Getting 3/4 of states to agree on anything is going to be nearly a miracle, let alone that thing being the rights of the cheapest labor pool they have.
They get paid, so it's more like serfs.
$5-10 per day is so low that the difference between it and wholly unpaid labor is too small to be significant. The real payment argument is that they get time off their sentences:
Most incarcerated fire crew members receive 2-for-1 credits, meaning they receive two additional days off their sentence for every one day they serve on a fire crew. Camp volunteers who work as support staff, but not on a fire crew, receive day-for day credits, meaning they receive one day off their sentence for every one day they serve as a firefighter.
There are 1000 changes that need to be made immediately to the criminal legal system and this program is far from ideal. But this is a major fact that we shouldn't be ignorant of or omit.
They get paid almost 7 bucks an hour to risk their lives. Great deal!
Per day
Don't forget about their free housing accomodations! Those are worth at least $300 a day.