Inmates at California prison say they’re sweltering as cooling systems fail amid heat wave

With an unprecedented heat wave baking much of the West, inmates at California’s largest female-only prison say they have been suffering in recent weeks because of faulty cooling systems that have left them sweltering.

“This is the worst year it’s ever been,” said inmate Christine Loyd, 79, who has been housed at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla since 2012.

Loyd said temperatures inside her dormitory-style room rose to 94 degrees three days in a row since last weekend, and that as she was speaking to a Sacramento Bee reporter Monday, the thermometer said it was 84 degrees in her room.

“There’s been a horrific heat wave and it has affected most of the cells,” she added. “It’s almost impossible to breathe with the heat.”

Loyd and inmate advocates say much of the problem is that the facility relies on evaporative coolers that sometimes break and frequently leak.

A spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in an email response to The Bee that officials had repaired the cooling systems, known colloquially as “swamp coolers,” and that efforts are being made at all state prisons to deal with the heat.

“CDCR is closely monitoring the heat wave, and is coordinating with our state partners and the leadership in each of the state’s 33 prisons to ensure there are appropriate resources and response,” spokeswoman Mary Xjimenez wrote. “CDCR responded quickly to the heat issue at CCWF and completed repairs of the swamp coolers on Friday, July 21.

“We have also installed additional fans in the housing units, which now have an average temperature of 80 degrees.”

But inmates say that average temperature is misleading, with the hallways typically running much cooler than inmate rooms, which have cinder block walls and have more direct exposure to the sun.

“The rooms are extremely hot,” said Charlotte Pleytez, 36, who has been at the prison for 13 years. “The end room that I live in, the corner area gets up to 102 degrees.

“We have no air flow except for the fans we have purchased.”

Pleytez said some of the swamp coolers did not have water in them, which is needed to cool the air fanned through them, because of concerns that they were old and leaking through ceilings.

She added that industrial fans have been placed in hallways to provide better air circulation, but that staffing issues have left many inmates inside their rooms with their doors closed.

“We’re locked in constantly because of lack of staff, so our doors are closed and the rooms are ridiculously hot,” Pleytez said. “Sometimes staff might come in and say, ‘It’s not too hot in here.’

“They say they check the temperatures in the hallways, but the hallway doesn’t face the sun. The hallways are cooled. It’s inside the room where we’re locked.”

Laura Hernandez, an inmate advocate based in Orange County and former Chowchilla inmate, said she began getting calls and emails from concerned relatives of inmates more than a week ago.

She added that staffers brought ice water coolers in for inmates, but that some later were marked as being for staff only.

“It’s just an oven, you’re baking them inside,” she said.

Chowchilla reached 100 degrees Monday evening, according to the National Weather Service, with highs near 100 predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hernandez forwarded a message from a prison official saying ice water had been distributed to each unit and that “we have policies in place which articulate when ice is distributed to incarcerated individuals.”

“Our team is actively working on the repair of the CCWF swamp coolers to restore their functionality as soon as possible,” the message added. “We assure you that we are expediting the repairs to alleviate the current heat conditions.”

What are California prison policies for heat?

CDCR has a “heat plan coordinator” at each prison and a plan for extreme heat situations that calls for more access to water, ice and fans, more access to showers and access to areas with air conditioning such as clinics, CDCR’s website says.

“All housing units in CDCR’s 33 prisons provide some cooling relief from heat, most often in the form of evaporative coolers and fans,” CDCR’s plan says. “Additionally, nursing staff will conduct rounds in the housing units and all staff are advised to keep visual contact with the incarcerated population for any signs of heat exposure.”

When indoor temperatures are higher than 90, vulnerable inmates are moved to air conditioned spaces, and liquids with electrolytes are distributed if medical staff direct that, CDCR says.

Indoor temperatures above 95 degrees call for nurses to check on every inmate at least every two hours.

“At all our institutions, we are paying special attention to medically vulnerable incarcerated people, and are providing additional water, ice, cooling areas, and information to our staff and incarcerated population on ways to prevent heat-related illnesses throughout this heat wave,” Xjimenez said. “At this time, in-person visiting has not been impacted, but depending on the conditions, may be canceled.

“We advise any scheduled visitors to check our website for updated information.”