Power restored at overcrowded California prison after outage amid heat wave

VACAVILLE, Calif. — Power was restored Tuesday at an overcrowded California men's prison that ran on emergency generator power for three days following a major electrical outage amid a heat wave.

The problem was fixed shortly after 2 p.m. at California State Prison, Solano, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The electricity had been out since Sunday at the facility in Vacaville, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Sacramento.

Temperatures in the city topped 96 degrees (35.5 Celsius) on Sunday and the weather remained hot into the week.

Running water, ice and cooling fans were made available “to help manage heat-related concerns,” the corrections department said in a statement Monday.

In addition, medical staff made 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,” the Monday statement said. The outage did not affect security at the prison, officials 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 specify what the problem was.

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.