Blizzard of 2013 knocked down fence at state prison; inmates can’t go outside

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

The Old Colony Correctional Center medium security prison in Bridgewater was placed in lockdown mode for two days following the Feb. 8-Feb. 9 blizzard, which knocked down portions of the facility’s perimeter fence, officials said.

No prisoners escaped. Under a lockdown, inmates are restricted to their housing blocks. Now that the lockdown has been lifted they can visit other areas of the prison, such as the gym, but they will be kept indoors until the fence is repaired, said Diane Wiffin, spokeswoman for the state Department of Correction.

“From the evening of Feb. 9 to the morning of Feb. 12 Old Colony Correctional Center inmates were in lockdown due to a failure in the perimeter fence caused by the heavy snow and ice from the blizzard,” she said.

The facility is working to fix the fence, but there is currently no estimate for how long it will take to repair it or how much the project will cost, Wiffin said.