Three DOC Staffers Injured

In Garner Prison Fire

By Andrew Gorosko

Following a fire that was intentionally set in a prison cell by inmates at the state’s high-security Garner Correctional Institution on Nunnawauk Road on October 14, three correction officers were transported to Danbury Hospital for treatment of injuries, according to a state Department of Correction (DOC) spokesman.

DOC spokesman Brian Garnett said October 21 that the three men went to Danbury Hospital following the fire.

One correction officer was admitted to the hospital and then released the following day after treatment for smoke inhalation, Mr Garnett said. The second man was treated for burns and smoke inhalation and then released, and the third man was treated for smoke inhalation and then released, Mr Garnett said. All three men are recovering from their injuries, he said.

The spokesman did not disclose the identities of the three correction officers who were injured, nor did he identify the inmates who were involved in setting the fire.

It was the second fire within a cell in that unspecified cellblock in Garner that day.

The inmates were able to start fires in their locked cells by tampering with electrical outlets in the cells, Mr Garnett said.

State police and the DOC are investigating both fires, Mr Garnett said.

In the second and more serious fire, which was noticed at 9:35 pm, two inmates in their locked dual-occupancy cell started a smoky mattress fire. The DOC staffers’ response to that incident resulted in their injuries and their consequent transport to the hospital for treatment.

According to Mr Garnett, that fire required that the prisoners in that cellblock be moved into the prison’s gymnasium until conditions in the cellblock returned to normal.

Earlier on October 14, at 4:55 pm, one inmate of two inmates within a locked dual-occupancy cell ignited his mattress. DOC staffers quickly put out that fire, which was less serious than the one which occurred later that day.

It is not unusual for inmates to tamper with electrical outlets in their cells, Mr Garnett said. However, such activity is usually detected before it results in fires being set within cells, he said. DOC staffers need to be “on guard” regarding such prisoner behavior, he said.

The state police investigation into the incidents could result in arson charges being lodged against the inmates involved, Mr Garnett said.

Town firefighters were not dispatched to the prison in connection with the two fires.