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Boilers at correctional facilities malfunctioned, then repaired, in sub-zero weather – Daily Montanan [1]

['Daily Montanan Staff', 'More From Author', '- January']

Date: 2024-01 

Nearly 300 inmates, including 30 juveniles, in Montana correctional facilities were without heat for several hours during the weekend when boilers at two facilities malfunctioned, but were repaired within hours.

According to the Montana Department of Corrections, one of two boilers at the Work Reentry Center in the Montana State Prison at Deer Lodge stopped working Friday night, and a boiler at Pine Hills Correctional Facility in Miles City also failed on Saturday night. These heat outages impacted 180 and 110 residents, respectively.

The Department of Corrections established an Incident Command System as the extreme weather started in the state to monitor and manage potential issues. The department disbanded the team Tuesday as temperatures rose across the state.

“Our maintenance teams are continuing to monitor and troubleshoot as minor issues pop up, but we have had no new major heating issues affecting inmates at any of our facilities for the past couple of days,” said DOC Director Brian Gootkin in a Tuesday statement.

The department said in a press release inmates in both facilities were provided with extra blankets and portable heaters were installed in common areas for warmth, with repairs taking two hours to complete.

“When temperatures become this extreme, it affects everyone in the state,” Gootkin said in a press release. “We are fortunate to have our dedicated staff and community partners to help us keep everyone safe and secure.”

Montana experienced a significant dip in temperatures during the weekend, with Deer Lodge seeing a low of -38 degrees Friday evening and Miles City experiencing -33 degree lows Saturday night, according to Accuweather.

The DOC said inmates in Miles City, which included 30 juveniles, largely didn’t experience the negative impacts of the outage as it happened while they slept and the lowest indoor temperature was 60 degrees.

The heat went out at Deer Lodge in October when temperatures went below zero. The legislature allocated $211 million to infrastructure repairs and contractors are working with the facility on making improvements.

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/briefs/boilers-at-correctional-facilities-malfunctioned-then-repaired-in-sub-zero-weather/

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