Last year, the Northwest baked through an unprecedented heat wave. At the time, The Office of the Corrections Ombuds, an independent agency in Washington within the governor’s office, conducted a site visit at the Monroe Correctional Complex. The office found temperatures reached 107 degrees inside the facility, and listed recommendations the Department of Corrections should implement.

High Country News recently published a report on how prisons in the state responded to the heat wave. It details grievances from people in prison that illustrate extreme conditions and a lack of emergency preparation. Sarah Sax, a freelance journalist and former climate Justice fellow at High Country News, reported the story. She joins us with details.