Investigation Reveals Violations in Jail Fire
A state investigation of a county jail where eight inmates died in a fire uncovered major safety violations that have resulted in fines, an official said.
Mitchell County was fined $7,350 this month for violations of the state’s occupational safety code, Labor Department spokesman Allen McNeely said.
He said the county built a storage addition where the May 3 fire is believed to have started out of combustible materials and failed to properly install barriers and smoke detectors.
McNeely noted the department can only levy relatively small fines because its jurisdiction is limited to occupational safety. “That’s why the fine certainly doesn’t seem worth eight lives,” he said.
Dist. Atty. James Rusher, whose territory includes Mitchell County, has not yet announced the results of his own investigation.
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