Juvenile Inmate Wildland Firefighter (JIWF)
Red badges instead of cell phones. Fire training instead of time ticking away.
Every morning from May 26 to May 31, we handed over our phones to the guards at Hameln Juvenile Prison and received red visitor badges. Doors open, trunks checked – a brief security routine before entering a place rarely associated with hope. But that's exactly what we brought:
Wildland firefighting training for incarcerated youth.
This was the first major project of the Pyrocene Alliance – and a deeply meaningful one for us as a team of trainers.
The idea came from Michael Herrmann, a wildfire ecology enthusiast and criminal court judge. His vision: rehabilitation through responsibility, teamwork, and purpose. Wildland firefighting demands all of this – discipline, trust, goal focus. Qualities essential for those seeking a new path after prison.
💡 It wasn’t smooth from the start.
Out of the original 12 participants, 5 dropped out during basic training. We adjusted our expectations. But in the end, we stood with 7 young men who stuck with it – through challenges, sweat, and team-building. They grew individually and collectively, and for us, that meant everything.
📚 The training program combined:
Classroom theoryDaily outdoor training & physical conditioning
Two real fire deployment days
Sandbox exercises to understand LACES and fire behavior
🔥 Our diverse and international trainer team brought wide-ranging wildfire experience:
Bethany Hannah (USA) – former Hotshot, now leads American Wildfire Experience
Greg Jones (Canada) – active smokejumper
Benny (Russia) – former Greenpeace Russia fire team member, now in exil
Michael Herrmann (Germany) – judge, volunteer firefighter, technical relief background
Sebastian Schroeder – German volunteer firefighter & deputy fire chief
Liza van Velzen & Steffen Hartig – foresters and volunteer firefighters from the Netherlands and Germany
And of course, Heinz Brand, the prison officer who made it all possible. His dedication is a model of what prison officers can be.
🧭 The challenges were real
Visa uncertainty, short preparation time, limited funding (entirely donation-based), institutional complexities, and even the weather tested us. But thanks to our donors and supporters we kept moving forward.
✅ And what did we achieve?
A new wildfire handcrew of seven highly motivated participants
Skills and perspectives to help them find purpose beyond prison
A strengthened, inspired trainer team with international friendships
And a clear belief: projects like this must continue. And they will.
We witnessed growth. We saw potential. And we know that fire – when used with skill, teamwork, and care – can become a tool for transformation.
Please support our work!
We are dependent on donations to make this project possible. Please help us to give the young people new impulses for their lives. Every donation helps! Thank you very much!