Power restored in overcrowded California prison after outage during heatwave

VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Power was restored Tuesday at an overcrowded California men's prison after a major outage during a heat wave that left it running on backup generators for three days.

According to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the problem at the California State Prison in Solano was resolved shortly after 2 p.m. The facility in Vacaville, about 65 kilometers southwest of Sacramento, had been without power since Sunday.

Temperatures in the city reached over 96 degrees (35.5 degrees Celsius) on Sunday and the weather remained hot throughout the week.

Running water, ice and cooling fans were provided “to manage heat-related issues,” the Department of Corrections said in a statement Monday.

In addition, medical staff were making rounds to monitor the well-being of inmates, officials said.

“The health and safety of all people who live and work in our facility and in our community is our top priority,” the statement said Monday. The power outage did not affect security at the prison, officials said.

Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility company, said Tuesday that the outage was not related to its equipment but was due to a problem with the prison's equipment. The Department of Corrections did not provide further details on what the problem was.

Solano State Prison is one of the most overcrowded prisons in California. According to a Department of Corrections report, the facility housed more than 3,900 men in June, or 153 percent of its design capacity.

The Associated Press