California prison on emergency generator power following power outage amid heat wave

A California men's prison is running on emergency generator power for a third day following a major electrical outage over the weekend amid a heat wave

California Prison Power Outage (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

An overcrowded California men's prison was running on emergency generator power for a third day Tuesday following a major electrical outage over the weekend amid a heat wave.

Crews were working to restore service to California State Prison, Solano, after electricity went out Sunday at the facility in Vacaville, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Sacramento.

Temperatures in Vacaville topped 96 degrees (35.5 Celsius) on Sunday and hot weather was expected all week.

Running water, ice and cooling fans were made available “to help manage heat-related concerns,” the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement.

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

“The health and safety of all individuals living and working within our institution and in our community are our top priorities. This outage does not compromise security at SOL, and we are working to promptly address the needs of our population,” the statement said.

The utility Pacific Gas & Electric said Tuesday that the outage did not involve its equipment but was a result of a problem with the prison's equipment. The corrections department didn't immediately respond Tuesday afternoon to an inquiry about when repairs would be completed.

Solano State Prison is one of the most overpopulated lockups in California. As of June, the facility held more than 3,900 men and was at 153% of its intended capacity, according to a corrections department report.