Fulton County Jail fire: Inmates allege empty extinguishers, failed response

Inmates allege empty extinguishers, failed response during jail fire

Two inmates at the Fulton County Jail are describing what they call "complete chaos" inside the facility when a fire broke out Friday evening.

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Two inmates at the Fulton County Jail are describing what they call "complete chaos" inside the facility when a fire broke out Friday evening.

Rice Street Jail fire

The backstory:

The Fulton County sheriff said the fire began Friday evening when an inmate set trash on fire in a shower on the seventh floor.

Inmates say staff panicked

What they're saying:

Both men — one 52 years old, the other 42 — say the conditions were so extreme that they believed they were going to die.

The 52-year-old inmate told his family he feared for his life as thick smoke filled the North Tower. His family recorded the call he made to them.

"We banging on the door trying to get their attention in the tower and tell the lady, 'It's a fire. It's a fire. It's a fire. It's a fire.'"

Inmates claim staff appeared overwhelmed and confused as the fire grew. The inmates who spoke out allege that one employee ran from an elevated tower in a panic.

"The sergeant dude was banging on the door while the fire was going on and the lady in the tower, she just ran out the tower and left the tower and never opened the door. So the sergeant had to go run and get the keys. Once he opened the door and saw the fire, he froze up. So when I saw that he froze up, I snatched the fire extinguisher out of his hand. I ran in the dorm with all this smoke. The fire is still blazing and I get right up on the fire and try to put the fire out with the fire extinguisher."

Claims of faulty equipment

What they're saying:

The inmates further allege that some of the emergency equipment failed during the crisis.

"I run in this dorm with all this smoke, the fire is blazing. I get right up on the fire, try to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. The fire extinguisher is empty so I had to run back out the door. I went in there three times… it was three fire extinguishers on this floor. All of them were empty."

Editor's note: It remains unclear whether the extinguishers had already been used or were inoperable.

Another inmate criticized the overall response:

"The officers that responded to it… didn’t nobody know what to do."

One inmate told us he collapsed from smoke inhalation while trying to put out the fire. The sheriff confirmed that he, along with four other inmates and four staff members, were hospitalized.

The inmate described the jail conditions as a "third-world jail."

Sheriff disputes inmates’ accounts

The other side:

Sheriff Patrick Labat held a news conference just hours after the fire and pushed back on claims that equipment or staff response failed.

"So we do have sprinkler systems in and throughout different parts of the facility. This was set up. Everything worked as normal at this point," Labat said.

He then sent FOX 5 another statement that reads, "This is an active investigation. The sprinkler system worked as it should have and our team trains for all emergencies, including fires. Because of the quick action of our team members and Atlanta Fire Rescue Dept., everyone made it out of the building alive."