March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Fuel leak causes jail evacuation

Police converged on the Penobscot County Jail Thursday night as 89 inmates were evacuated from the building because of a faulty furnace.

It was the first time in several years that the jail has been evacuated and state police, Bangor police and Penobscot County Sheriff deputies flocked to the area to monitor the prisoners.

Penobscot County Sheriff Ed Reynolds said that at about 8:30 p.m. the building’s two furnaces shut down, backfired and caused black smoke to spread through the building.

The decision was made to evacuate the prisoners, and dispatchers began calling police and deputies to the scene to assist.

Prisoners were placed in an outdoor recreation area, but when Reynolds arrived at 9 p.m. he ordered that they be moved inside to the basement of the Penobscot County Superior courthouse.

Before the inmates could go into the basement, deputies and corrections officers had to “purge” the area to make it safe to house the inmates, Reynolds said.

Once in the basement, the inmates were surrounded by police. Police also surrounded the perimeter of the jail.

By 11 p.m. one of the furnaces was working again, and the inmates were returned to their cells.

Reynolds said nearly everything went well during the procedure except the jail’s control panel blew a fuse and several automatic doors had to be opened manually in order to release the inmates.

“I was especially pleased with the response we had from area law enforcement,” Reynolds said.

Bangor police, state police and sheriff’s deputies were at the scene and assistance was offered by nearly every police department in the area, Reynolds said.


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