Inmates Set Fire at Jail on Navy Base

Illegal immigrants housed at a privately run jail at Miramar Naval Air Station set mattresses and sheets ablaze Friday, spreading fire and panic that left 24 inmates injured.

Eight to 10 prisoners who were angry over the recent loss of canteen privileges for all inmates at the newly opened jail started the fires by cutting electrical wires inside light sockets to provide sparks, U.S. Atty. Alan Bersin said.

As black smoke filled the cellblocks, the electric doors that would have let the 174 inmates into an outdoor controlled area failed to open because of the cut wires. Several minutes elapsed before a backup electrical system took over and the doors opened.

“Even the thugs and hoodlums who started the fires must be regretting what they’ve done tonight,” Bersin said. Charges against them could include arson and attempted murder, he said.

Twenty-four inmates suffering smoke inhalation were taken to civilian hospitals. Four were listed as critical and one was in intensive care. None of the 210 military prisoners at the adjacent Miramar brig were involved.

The 150 federal inmates who were uninjured were taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego.

All but a handful of the 174 federal prisoners at Miramar are illegal immigrants who have been convicted of at least one felony in the past and are awaiting prosecution after being caught trying to come back into the United States.

Those who started the fire were angry over the loss of canteen privileges that resulted because of the slow pace of transferring their snack-buying stipends from the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where they had been housed until the Miramar facility opened 10 days ago.

Under Bersin, prosecutors have increased prosecution of illegal immigrants with criminal records rather than just returning them to Mexico along with the vast majority of immigrants whose only crime is crossing illegally.

The facility suffered water and smoke damage but no structural damage. Bersin said he expected that the facility would soon resume its use as a holding facility for illegal immigrants. Navy Secretary John Dalton promised a “very hard look at the entire situation” before the facility is reopened.