From Felon to Fighter: The Redemption of Jose Santana

Santa Barbara County Resident Is Among First to Have Criminal Record Expunged
Under New State Law

By Tyler Hayden | October 14, 2021

UNSUNG HEROES: An inmate crew in their distinctive orange uniforms defends homes on the Casitas Pass during the Thomas Fire. With more than 3,000 of them spread throughout the state, inmate firefighters make up a sizable portion of California’s responders. | Credit: Paul Wellman (file)

Every day he was in prison, Jose Santana would write letters to his sons that he never sent. Their mother didn’t allow any communication between them for the three years he was inside, especially not after his last crime.

But every evening before lights out, Santana would sit down on a steel stool at a steel desk and tell Seth and Silas about his day and how much he missed them. He left out the regular gang fights on his tier and the regrets that nagged every slow-moving hour of his sentence and instead talked about the things they would do as a family when he got out, like get a dog and go on hikes.

Santana continued his writing ritual even when, as an inmate firefighter, he worked on the front lines of some of California’s biggest recent disasters. At one point in 2020, he was out in the field for 60 days straight battling the Creek, River, Silverado, and LNU Lighting Complex fires. Racked by bone-deep exhaustion, he’d use the glow of his headlamp to scratch out a few sentences. “I just didn’t want them to think I ever forgot about them,” he said.