Rob Varela / Star staff Crystal Matamoros, right, sits next to her sister Briana Matamoros and mother Jeanette Cruz at an appreciation ceremony for young fire crew members.

Fire crew team leader Jazz Alailefue remembers the tremendous wall of heat as the unrelenting fire made its way up the steep hills.

Although it was about five months ago, Alailefue — a ward at the Sylvester Carraway Ventura Public Service and Fire Center — recalled the long days he and fellow teammates spent fighting the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara County.

It was one of several fires the male and female wards from the Camarillo correctional facility have fought recently.

"We would hike from 6 in the morning to midnight and when we hiked up that hill, we did our best to put the fires out," said Alailefue, 21. "It was a lot of hard work. That's what we train for, and it's definitely worth it."

Alailefue and teammates talked about their firefighting experiences Thursday night as about 200 relatives, friends, firefighters and camp administrators honored the wards at the seventh annual firefighter appreciation dinner at the Camarillo facility.

Since July, crews from the camp have assisted in extinguishing about 40 fires throughout the state, including the Zaca fire in July and August, the Malibu Canyon fires, Poomacha in San Diego County and the Magic and Buckwheat fires in Los Angeles County.

About 4,000 inmates from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and wards in the Division of Juvenile Justice assisted in fighting the recent barrage of fires across the state, said Thomas Berry, California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention division chief for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

"They are vitally important and do the work most people would not want to do," Berry said. "The terrain is sometimes so severe we can't get bulldozers in there. A lot of them never had a team experience growing up, like Boy Scouts. This is a chance to be in a crew and learn how to belong in a team and listen to their fire captains. It's a lot of hard work, but they enjoy it."

Crystal Matamoros said her experiences as leader of an all-female crew helped her realize she has a positive future ahead of her. Matamoros, arrested eight years ago for murder, said the camp has helped turn her life around. She plans to take classes, get her fire certification and work on becoming a firefighter after she leaves the facility in April.

"The hard work is worth it, because you think about all of the people you have helped and the people's property and animals that you help save," said Matamoros, 20.

Watching the young crew members during Thursday's gathering was a bit surreal for San Luis Obispo Fire Capt. U.E. Moua.

It was about 10 years ago that Moua sat in the same chair as a ward himself.

"When I got out, I wanted to make a change in my life," said Muoa, who now oversees the female crew. "The light bulb goes off. You say to yourself, I'm tired. I want to live life in the right way and do something positive.' It was my goal to be an inspiration for them. I'm proof that something good can come out of this program."

Fire camp administrator Maria Harper said plans are in the works to provide wards with the opportunity to take fire certification courses in-house so they can apply to fire departments once they leave the correctional facility.

Certificates of recognition were presented Thursday to some camp members, including Matamoros for best female firefighter of the year, Frank Islas for best male firefighter of the year and Alailefue for most improved.

Alailefue, who is in the Camarillo facility for attempted murder, said he has learned a lot about himself and his potential for a brighter future. He plans to join a fire department when he gets out.

"Out there, you gang-bang and hustle for money, but here you help people out, and you change," Alailefue said. "I never took anything seriously before, but this is no joke. My attitude has changed. I care about people, and now I have a purpose."