Prison fire started on mattress in inmate’s cell

A fire at Northward Prison on Tuesday was started on a mattress in a prisoner’s cell in the jail’s High Risk Unit, authorities have said.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs, issued on Thursday, the fire led to two prisoners being taken by ambulance to Cayman Islands Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Three prison officers also attended hospital for treatment, the ministry said.

All five were later discharged.

“Initial information is that prison officers detected smoke within the High Risk Unit originating from inside a prisoner’s cell,” the ministry said in the statement. “On investigation, a small fire was observed on his mattress and extinguished by the responding prison officers.”

An inmate at the prison who spoke to the Compass this week described chaotic scenes as prison officers evacuated prisoners from the unit, as thick smoke filled the block. He said inmates were out of their wing for four hours, as police, fire and ambulance services descended on the scene.

Those emergency services had been dispatched when the Department of Public Safety Communications’ 911 Centre was contacted about the fire around 3pm.

No structural damage was caused by the fire, police said in a statement on Tuesday night.

Sabrina Turner, who took over as home affairs minister last week in the government reshuffle, said, “The security of our prisons, safety of staff, and welfare of prisoners alike is of paramount importance to me. I would like to thank the Fire Service, RCIPS, EMS, and Health Services Authority for their collective professionalism and collaboration in response to this incident.”

The Fire Service and police are continuing to investigate the incident.