Aircraft battling fires raging through the Los Angeles area are dropping more than water: Hundreds of thousands of gallons of hot-pink fire suppressant ahead of the flames in a desperate effort to stop them before they destroy more neighborhoods.

More than 1,800 incarcerated firefighters live year-round in minimum-security conservation camps, also known as “fire camps,” located across 25 counties in California, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation;