Jail fire system activates twice in three days

Monday, January 19, 2015

No fires and no injuries occurred, but the fire suppression system at the Putnam County Jail activated twice during the long weekend, leaving authorities scratching their heads.

Sheriff Scott Stockton reported the first problem Saturday, with an activation in the kitchen of the facility on Greencastle's south side. An unknown problem caused a failure in the new fire suppression system, which released chemicals on the kitchen.

A vendor had been in the kitchen working on fire suppression system less than 24 hours earlier.

The extent of damage is unknown. However, the chemical released is corrosive to metal, and the kitchen contains $32,000-$35,000 in new stainless steel equipment.

A professional cleaning company has been called in to clean and assess the equipment.

In the meantime, Stockton reported "no real disruption to jail operations." Old equipment was transported back from the Putnam County Courthouse Annex with a temporary kitchen in the sallyport area.

By law, a jail must provide inmates with at least one hot meal a day. Stockton said the county has met this requirement in spite of the issues.

With the sheriff's department, the Greencastle Fire Department, vendors and the

county's insurance company already investigating the first incident, a second took place early Monday evening.

This time, an inmate on a work detail was filling a bucket with hot water in a closet area on G Block. He then got distracted, which led to the bucket overflowing and hot water spilling onto the floor.

This caused a fire suppression system activation in that area.

As with the first incident, no injuries were reported.

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