A post office in Northern California has become an unwelcome sauna after thieves targeted its air conditioning units, causing the system to break down three times in just over a month. This has left both employees and customers suffering in the sweltering heat.
At the Center Branch Post Office located on El Camino Avenue in Sacramento County, workers are scrambling without central air conditioning because criminals keep stealing the outdoor units for their copper components, as reported.
The first incident took place over Memorial Day weekend, with thieves escaping from the site shortly after the theft. Employees have barely had time to catch their breath before the replacement units were taken again.
Since Memorial Day, the small post office has been targeted three times. This ongoing issue is leading the U.S. Postal Service to reconsider the feasibility of replacing the stolen air conditioning units until they can implement a more secure system.
“This post office, staffed by just three employees, has seen the air conditioning units taken three times, and each theft has been reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,” said a USPS representative.
After noting that they have replaced the air conditioning unit twice, the spokesperson mentioned that they are now looking for a lasting solution and reviewing contractor bids for a new system. There’s no clear timeline for installation yet, but it’s becoming a priority.
In the meantime, workers are relying on portable air conditioning units at their desks, while customers are enduring high temperatures in the lobby. One customer remarked that the indoor temperature hit 90 degrees during the recent heatwave.
The spokesperson also expressed apologies for the inconvenience caused to customers.
Brian Embry, president of the local postal workers’ union, highlighted that the department has a policy requiring notification of safety hazards and the actions being taken to rectify them. He added that this particular post office is supervised remotely from a location about 1.6 miles away.
Regarding the thefts, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged that they hadn’t received reports from that location in the last six months but recognized there had been occasional thefts in the vicinity.
Copper theft remains a persistent issue in California, fueled by the rising value of the metal, as thieves often sell the stolen copper wire on the scrap market.
