Canon City, CO : Colorado prison staff member killed on duty in accident on Wednesday, 4th December, 2019

A staff member at the Fremont Correctional Facility died in an accident Wednesday while working in the state prison in Cañon City, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.

The department did not release the employee’s name and said it would not do so until family notification was complete. The department also didn’t specify how the person died, though the Cañon City Area Fire Protection District responded to a boiler explosion at the facility just before noon.

Firefighters responded to the prison and found that a boiler inside a building exploded after suffering a “catastrophic failure,” Lt. Shane Roberts said. One person was treated on scene before being transported to the hospital. Roberts said he couldn’t say whether the injured person was an inmate or a prison employee and that he didn’t know what caused the explosion.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to calls for comment Wednesday afternoon.

“This incident is still under investigation and we will not be providing any additional information at this time,” the news release from the department stated.

“Our DOC family is devastated by this loss, and we are praying for all of this staff member’s loved ones,” Dean Williams, executive director of the Department of Corrections, said in a statement. “Our primary focus at this time will be supporting the staff member’s family and our DOC team as we navigate this tragedy together.”

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