VIDEO: It is a second chance for 15 men who will be crossing a finish line next week, after a strenuous firefighting program in the Bay Area.
The graduates come from different backgrounds and parts of the Bay Area, but they have one thing in common: they are all formerly incarcerated.
For the past eight months, Abram Lopez, a 40-year-old Mexican-Native American, has been learning the skills needed to be a wildland firefighter in California. He already has plenty of experience though. In his 30's, Lopez was a fire practioner and a land steward for Native American Land Management.
"Got educated on ethnobotanical uses and all that," Lopez said. "That led me to being trained as a wildland firefighter."