SUNBURY — It was a tour for the senses — the smell of burnt wood and musty mold accompanied the sights of charred wood and crumbling walls. WKOK got a chance to walk through the fire damaged Northumberland County Prison building Tuesday.
“Watch your step… Walk on the plywood… Only four people on the steps at a time” — those were some of the directions reporters heard as they made their way through the tight hallways.
NCP Public Information Officer Jim Smink led the tour through the fire and water damaged building, “It’s eerie. There is no noise in there anymore… There was always a lot of noise. I spent a good deal of my life in there and I kind of miss it… It brings a lot of memories back, and I guess it’s time for a new prison.”
Smink explained the damage we saw Tuesday, “From what we know the fire started in the left wing. It then spread through the warden’s office up in the attic. It got into the right wing a little bit, but the fire department contained it there. The left wing had extensive damage, right wing was in pretty good shape. The work release area upstairs was completely damaged. The female quarters downstairs had about 6 to 8 inches of water. For the most part, I mean, we got everybody out. What the plans are for this place I have no idea, but it’s an old dinosaur and it’s still here.”
Commissioner Stephen Bridy said the next step is to have engineers come in and load test the structure, “The engineers at this point have many concerns about the structure and the integrity of the foundation, let alone the wall and the of course the power. Much of the block has been deteriorating. That’s the main issue, because the fire was concentrated up above that they put so much water on it to extinguish it, that as that water works its way down through the block and then freezes and expands, it pulverizes much of this block and brick that makes up the foundation.”
Bridy said they may find that the structure was not truly safe enough for Tuesday’s tour. We will post video footage of the inside of the Northumberland County Prison shortly. (Codi Jade)