Fulton officials say jail air conditioning repaired, but jail size makes re-cooling slow

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — After two severe weather events caused the Fulton County Jail to lose power, crews finished repairs Monday, but the cooldown process is still underway.

The repair work was stalled by multiple factors including a tree falling on a propane tank. By Tuesday, the structurally-troubled facility hadn’t quite cooled down all the way, officials said.

Jail officials told Channel 2 Action News that even though the air conditioning is on, the jail is too large to cool all the way down right away.

In the meantime, jail staff have placed spot coolers in the areas still somewhat out of reach of the HVAC system.

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Channel 2 Action News first learned power at the jail had shut off after severe storms on Friday.

To complicate things, a tree fell on a propane tank. Before crews could complete repairs and get the power back on, they had to refill the propane in the tank.

Power troubles continued over the weekend, though backup generators remained online and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said care of inmates wasn’t impacted.

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During the power outage, officials reported only three inmate medical emergencies and all of the inmates in need were able to receive treatment.

Medical services as a whole were uninterrupted during the outage.

Now, the sheriff’s office said it is still working to maintain safe conditions in the jail while the HVAC system returns the facility to full working order and cooler temperatures.

“Because of the size of the facility, air conditioning has not fully reached some units, so as an interim measure, spot coolers have been put in place in many areas,” Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a joint statement on Tuesday. “No heat-related medical emergencies have been reported. Jail and medical provider staff are performing regular health and safety checks in all units. In addition, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office is working to expedite scheduled inmate transfers.”

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