Detainees Hospitalized After Fire, Fight at Cook County Jail

Two detainees were hospitalized after a fight broke out in a cell and one of them started a fire early Wednesday at the Cook County Jail.

Firefighters responded about 12:30 a.m. to the blaze at 2834 W. 31st St., Division IX of the jail, said Fire Media Affairs Chief Juan Hernandez. Division IX was designed to hold 1,056 males and is comprised of two interconnected three-story buildings, housing general population inmates with a maximum security classification, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office website.

The fire started when a detainee threw a pile of torn sheets and paper out of his cell and set it on fire, according to sheriff’s office spokeswoman Cara Smith.

Officers extinguished the “small” fire and opened the cell to find that there had been a fight inside and one of the detainees had suffered “a non-life-threatening puncture wound,” she said. A lighter was recovered from one of the detainees.

A 25-year-old man suffered burns and a stab wound that appeared to be self-inflicted, Hernandez said. He was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital.

A second detainee was also taken to a hospital for facial injuries suffered in the fight, Smith said.

The fire was struck out by 1:24 a.m. and no other injuries were reported, officials said. The incident remained under investigation Wednesday morning.

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