Travis Barker is making sure the inmate firefighters battling the Los Angeles wildfires know how appreciated they are for risking their lives during the ongoing disaster.

TMZ has learned Travis made it a point to pay a visit to the Rose Bowl Complex in Pasadena, California on Monday, where he met with members of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition ... made up of nonviolent security inmates who are on the front lines with other first responders.

Travis tells us ... "A lot of them came from the juvenile system and this program gives them the ability for real change and to make a difference. To see the humanity in all of them was amazing."

TB says this shows the coalition is valuable for both the inmates and the community endangered by the fires, adding ... "They saw themselves as criminals before because that’s all anyone told them -- and now they are being told they are heroes, first responders, and they begin to see themselves differently."

Travis also met with members of the National Guard at the complex -- they're also on the front lines helping secure affected neighborhoods.

ARC was formally created in 2013 and has served more than 1,000 incarcerated youth so far. We’re told filmmaker Scott Budnick was there Monday ... he routinely works to end mass incarceration in California.

We're told Travis hopes to continue his relationship with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and help inmates however he can.