Smoke filled the kitchen and laundry room at the Jefferson County Jail, 510 First St., in Hillsboro early Saturday morning (Oct. 20) after a small fire started in a dryer, said Assistant Chief Brian Gaudet of the Hillsboro Fire Protection District.
The fire was extinguished quickly and none of the inmates had to be evacuated, Gaudet said.
The jail typically houses between 320 and 370 inmates each day, said Capt. Gary Higginbotham of the Sheriff’s Office.
The Hillsboro Fire Protection District got a call about the fire at 2:23 a.m., and firefighters arrived on the scene at 2:26 a.m., Gaudet said.
“Upon arrival, the first-in pumper (crew) found smoke visible coming out of the rear of the structure,” he said. “They were met by corrections officers at the laundry room and kitchen entrance. They told us they had used a fire extinguisher on the fire and put most of the fire out.”
Heavy smoke filled the kitchen and laundry room, Gaudet said.
He said firefighters removed the material that was burning in the dryer and finished putting out the fire with a water extinguisher. Then firefighters spent about an hour ventilating the building to rid it of smoke and checking the dryer vent and other areas in the laundry room to make sure the fire hadn’t spread.
Both the laundry room and the kitchen had smoke damage, Gaudet said.
“There was also dry powder from the fire extinguisher,” he said. “It was pretty much a mess down there.”
Gaudet said corrections officers handled the fire properly.
“The correction officers did an awesome job, not only in putting out the fire but making sure the inmates were safe,” Gaudet said. “They did an excellent job.”
Gaudet said the jail was built in a way to minimize the spread of fire and smoke from one place to another.
He said barriers exist to keep fires from spreading, and the HVAC system automatically maintains a positive pressure to keep smoke from moving from one area of the building to another. In addition, the building has a sprinkler system.
The cause of the fire was not determined, Gaudet said Tuesday (Oct. 23).
“We’re not sure if it was a lint build up or the dryer malfunctioned and kept drying those rags to the point of combustion,” he said.
Gaudet said dryers are dangerous.
“We have lots of dryer fires from residential structures,” he said. “We recommend cleaning out the lint filter after every use, and every now and then, the vent that goes outside. Lint builds up in there, too.”
Gaudet also said a dryer should be used only when someone is home to monitor it.
The De Soto and Festus fire departments and the De Soto Rural, Dunklin, Hematite, Mapaville, Cedar Hill and Antonia fire districts assisted with the call.