FD: Inmate Sets Fire Inside Jail Cell
Several El Paso County Jail staff and visitors were evacuated after a fire started inside a cell on the building’s sixth floor Monday afternoon.
According to sheriff’s officials, all staff and inmates were safe and the evacuations were a precaution.
El Paso Fire Department officials told ABC-7 the fire was sparked by an inmate in his cell.
Fire suppression technician Shane Haggerty said it appeared “something metal” was forced into the cell’s electrical socket — shorting some electrical wires that sparked the small fire.
Haggerty said the flames spread to the inmate’s mattress, some magazines and books inside the cell.
He said the fire was extinguished by a jail staffer.
No injuries were reported.
