Jail riots don't come cheap.

The preliminary estimate of the cost to repair damage done during an eight-man riot at Whitehorse Correctional Centre has run to nearly $52,000.

That doesn't include any costs to the Whitehorse Fire Department or the RCMP, said territorial Justice department spokeswoman Sapphire LightHeart.

Initially, 12 male inmates were in A-Dorm the evening of Jan. 24 when several small fires were set. Once firefighters arrived to put out the blaze, inmates barricaded themselves inside the dorm with beds.

Four of the 12 men exited the dorm, leaving behind the others to rip sinks off walls, smash windows and damage bathroom stalls.

At one point, a bed leg was torn off and used to batter two walls. Inmates bashed a 10 centimetre (four inch) hole through an interior wall into the women's dorm, and made considerable dents to an exterior wall.

Once the eight inmates returned to the jail after a night spent in RCMP detachment cells, other prisoners at WCC were shuffled to make space while the damaged dorm was repaired.

The women's unit was moved to an outbuilding on the property.

Eight men have been charged with mischief over $5,000 and attempting to escape.