Fire at South West Detention Centre jail highlights challenges for guards
The people who guard the inmates in Ontario's jails are also the people who put out some of the fires they start.
A fire broke out in a cell at the South West Detention Centre in Windsor on Tuesday afternoon.
The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services has said that an inmate started the fire in the cell. But it has not provided details on how the fire got started.
Windsor Fire & Rescue Services said that when its firefighters got to the scene, the staff at the jail had "mostly extinguished" the problem.
The fire department said the fire caused an estimated $500 in damage.
Randy Simpraga, the president of OPSEU Local 135, told CBC News in an email that the correctional officers working at the jail have access to fire suppression equipment.
Tammy Carson, a correctional officer who chairs a provincial OPSEU health and safety committee, said the guards receive training on putting out fires and must get recertified for this on a regular basis.
"We are expected to put out the smaller fires," Carson said, noting that the correctional officers will be the first people to the scene, well before the firefighters can arrive.
In a telephone interview, Carson said fires in a jail can be as small as a piece of paper that has been lit or as serious as a person who has set themselves on fire.
Carson said inmates can access magazines and books, as long as they are not on any kind of special watch. If they are able to get access to matches or a lighter that have been smuggled in, the combination can be a problem.