California Prisons Ditch Costly Fire Alarm Upgrade, Rely on Staff to Spot Smoke Instead

California’s prison system is confronting a familiar budget dilemma: pay now for modern equipment, or pay later — and often more — to patch over aging infrastructure with manpower. In this case, the stakes involve fire safety across the state’s 31 prisons, where outdated and sometimes broken fire alarm systems have pushed corrections officials toward a costly workaround.

According to reporting from CalMatters, replacing the fire detection systems statewide — including smoke detectors, control panels and the networks that connect them — would run California taxpayers roughly $1.5 billion. Rather than commit to that expense, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has instead relied on what’s known as “fire watch”: assigning correctional officers, who already patrol the facilities, to keep an eye out for smoke and flames.

That staffing solution isn’t cheap either. The department has spent close to $50 million on fire watch duty between 2020 and 2025. Because the work is typically classified as overtime, it adds up quickly — a seasoned correctional officer already earns a base salary of about $9,600 a month. In search of savings, the department is testing a lower-cost alternative at Solano State Prison, where fire watch duties are being handled by workers classified as “office assistants,” who earn roughly $4,300 a month, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The approach has sparked disagreement among experts who study prison conditions and safety.

Kristen Cowan, an assistant professor at the University of Buffalo who researches how extreme weather and disasters affect incarcerated populations, argues that functioning fire alarms are simply a baseline expectation.

“It makes you wonder what else is missing in the facilities,” Cowan said. “We wouldn’t let anyone else live in a place that doesn’t have a smoke detector.”

But Matt Cate, a former secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, sees less urgency in the situation. He noted that prison buildings are largely constructed from concrete and steel, making large-scale fires uncommon. He also pointed out that prisons already have fire departments on-site and are staffed around the clock.

“Large-scale fires in prisons are extremely rare because prisons are made of concrete and steel,” Cate said. “There’s a fire department attached to each prison, and there are people throughout the prison who are there all the time. It’s staffed 24-7.”

Whether the state eventually commits to a full overhaul of its aging fire alarm infrastructure — or continues to rely on officers acting as human smoke detectors — remains an open question as budget pressures continue to shape decisions across California’s correctional system.

In other Southern California news, Inland Empire residents interested in workforce and education policy can attend a free CalMatters event Aug. 5 in Riverside. The panel discussion, moderated by CalMatters reporter Adam Echelman, will bring together health, education and workforce leaders to talk about how California can prepare its next generation of workers.

CalMatters is also partnering with inewsource for a related conversation Aug. 13 in San Ysidro, focused on the Tijuana River contamination crisis, which continues to affect the health and daily lives of residents on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Meanwhile, San Diego’s standing as a national arts hub is facing new challenges. Even though the city has long ranked among the country’s top supporters of the arts, funding cuts at both the federal and local level are threatening that reputation — fueling public disputes over how the city should prioritize its arts budget going forward.

Original source: CalMatters