Authorities search for inmate who escaped from fire camp near Acton

A minimum-security inmate has escaped from the Acton Conservation Camp in Los Angeles County, a fire camp that houses some inmates who help battle brush fires across the state.

Miguel Velasquez, 22, was last seen Thursday just before midnight during an inmate count, according to a news release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Authorities did not describe how he escaped and simply said he “walked away.”

Velasquez was serving a sentence for vandalism and criminal gang activity and was due to be released in March 2016.

The camp is in the Angeles National Forest near Acton and staff searched the immediate surrounding area but did not find him. Since then, the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies have been notified and are helping search for Velasquez.

According to the camp’s website, as of Oct. 22 there were 73 inmates at Camp No. 11, 10 staff members from the L.A. County Fire Department and eight staff members from the corrections department.

The Acton camp has been part of a “cooperative partnership” between the county fire department and the corrections department since the 1980s, according to the website.

Anyone with information about Velasquez’s whereabouts is urged to call (661) 268-0113.

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