Employees hospitalized after 2nd day of carbon monoxide leaks at Fulton County Jail
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Officials have shut the gas off at the Fulton County Jail after a second day of high carbon monoxide levels in the jail's kitchen.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office says carbon monoxide monitors that were installed Tuesday night sounded an alert at 8 a.m. on Wednesday - causing an evacuation of the area and a response from the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.
Two kitchen workers transported themselves to the hospital. Fifteen others were evaluated at the scene.
The response comes a day after one of the kitchen's eight kettles was discovered to be leaking odorless and colorless gas. Atlanta Fire reports that a second kettle was discovered to be leaking carbon monoxide and a stovetop's supply line was leaking natural gas on Wednesday morning.
(Fulton County Sheriff's Office)
"It has been discovered that the regulator to the gas line leading to the building is faulty," a spokesperson for the Fulton County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "Atlanta Gas Light is currently onsite to determine if the regulator will be repaired or replaced."
While the gas remains off, cold meals will be served to the jail's inmates and a food vendor will be used for the staff.
Sheriff Patrick "Pat" Labat says that the two days of kitchen problems highlighted the ongoing issues surrounding the aging jail's upkeep.
"In the past three years, over 1,000 work orders have been submitted for issues with the kitchen alone. The air conditioning has been out since April and temperature readings have reached the 90s," says Sheriff Patrick "Pat" Labat. "When we are responsible for feeding thousands of residents a day, our inability to continue work in our kitchen for a 24/7 operation is problematic.:
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Labat has been pushing for a brand-new jail. However, the Fulton County Commission recently voted to spend $300 million to renovate the jail instead of the estimated $2 billion to replace the jail.
Since 2022, at least 30 inmates have died at the jail. The sheriff says in that same period his team found more than 4,000 homemade weapons that were created from light fixtures and other jail infrastructure. He says a new facility would all but eliminate the problem.