PITTSBURGH — An inmate has been charged in the Wednesday fire at the Allegheny County Jail.
Andrew Powell, 29, has been charged with one count of causing or risking catastrophe, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, one count of institutional vandalism, and one count of felony criminal mischief.
Two Allegheny County Jail guards have been released from the hospital after a fire began in a cell on Wednesday, the county announced.
The fire broke out in Pod 6D around 3:20 p.m., the county said, and is believed to have been started with contraband materials.
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All 80 inmates in that pod were evacuated and corrections officers extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived.
A sergeant and a corrections officer were both taken to the hospital, treated and released for smoke inhalation.
The jail was placed on lockdown and resumed normal operations at 7 a.m. Thursday.
No inmates were injured. The two inmates assigned to the cell where the fire started were placed into pre-hearing confinement pending disciplinary action.