Talk:Bridgeport Correctional Center

One Source
This page was created on October 11, 2013 with information from the official Connecticut Department of Corrections web site. Please add relevant reliable sources. --Eggishorn (talk) 21:09, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Bridgeport Correctional Center Fire, July 3, 1990
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) _ A fire apparently ignited by workmen using a propane torch destroyed a 100- year-old section of the city jail Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of 375 inmates, authorities said.

Two firefighters and a correction officer suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

No inmates escaped during the evacuation, said Mayor Mary Moran.

The blaze broke out about 11 a.m. in the jail’s east wing. The three-story, wood-and-brick structure is the oldest of four buildings comprising the Bridgeport Correctional Center. The jail houses a total of 1,000 inmates.

The fire burned more than four hours before firefighters brought it under control around 3:30 p.m. It spewed smoke far into the air and was visible for miles away.

SWAT team officers from the Correctional Emergency Response Team were dispatched to oversee the evacuation, which authorities described as orderly. About 30 state troopers were also placed on standby as a precaution.

The inmates evacuated from the east wing were taken to fenced recreational areas within the compound.

″We met no resistance,″ said state police Lt. Richard Brozek.

Anxious relatives of inmates gathered behind the yellow-police tape across from the jail, awaiting word of loved ones.

″I’m counting on God,″ said Mildred Ramos of Bridgeport, who said her son was a prisoner at the jail.

A construction worker said that workers were using a propane torch to melt rubber to lay a new roof on top of the building. The fire apparently burned through the roof, then raced through the attic and destroyed the building, which houses cells, a cafeteria and a classroom.

″As we were putting it out, it just got ahead of us,″ said Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Petrucelli, who declared the east wing a total loss.

The Bridgeport Correctional Center houses minimum-, medium- and maximum- security prisoners. The east wing was a medium-security area.

Correction officials weren’t sure where the displaced prisoners would be sent, but insisted that Connecticut’s crowded prisons had the space to absorb them.

″Every inmate will have a bed tonight,″ said Correction Department spokesman William Wheeler. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:18A:C780:8F94:5CB9:459B:E168:7B6D (talk) 03:26, 24 June 2019 (UTC)