Fire Plan Exercise At Tuolumne County Jail

Sonora, CA — A large-scale training exercise will be taking place at the Tuolumne County Jail this evening.

The Tuolumne County Fire Marshall in conjunction with the Tuolumne County Fire District, California Department of Forestry, Sonora Fire Department and the Tuolumne County Jail is involved in the exercise, which is a worst-case scenario, because of the anticipated problems fighting a fire in certain areas.

Inmates will be moved into other sections during the drill and Jail and Fire Department Personnel will be utilized as mock inmates to simulate a rescue from the housing unit.

Fire officials will bring in charged fire lines, use a non-toxic smoke machine to test the jail´s ventilation system, simulate the rescue of trapped inmates in a housing unit, and conduct the exercise as if it were a real event.

Lt. Dan Bressler with the Sheriff´s Department says although the scale of the exercise is the largest to ever take place in the jail, jail personnel feel it is necessary to prepare and be able to effectively handle any possible future event.

Bressler says the safety and security of the Jail Facility is of paramount concern during the exercise, and at no time will any inmate in the facility be put at risk.

Written by Sabrina Sabbagh