In order to maintain safety and security during the evacuations, we were not able to officially notify you earlier in the process. These three Salem institutions are in the path of the fire and the Department of Corrections (DOC) worked closely with the Oregon State Police and State Fire Marshall to carry out the evacuations. With little notice, DOC’s organized labor bargaining units fully cooperated with management and each other to secure the safety of our AICs. We are grateful for their honorable dedication to our unique public safety mission.

To be clear, inmatess from these institutions are not being released from custody—rather, they have been moved to other DOC institutions. At this point, we don’t know how long these moves will remain in place. OSCI has 774 inmatess, SCI has 363, and MCCF has 257.

In addition to our institutions, many DOC employees and their families are evacuating from their homes, and their focus needs to be on the safety of loved ones.