On April 21, 1930, the Ohio Penitentiary unfortunately made history in a few ways. In the early evening, a fire broke out at the prison taking the lives of 322 inmates. The fire was the worst in Ohio history and in prison history as well. Inmates died from flames of the fire and from poisonous gases given off from the burning lumber.
The cause of the fire was from a candle igniting some oily rags on the roof of the West Block shortly after inmates were locked into their cells for the evening. The perpetrator of the igniting of the fire is debated. On one side, guards say three inmates started the fire to create a distraction in order to escape. To help prove their point, two of the three accused committed suicide a few months later. On the other hand, people feel the fire was an accident and that officials were pointing the blame to prisoners to keep the heat off them because of how poorly the prison was ran.
No matter the cause, the prison was overcrowded and prisoners were moved out to a prison farm in London, Ohio. At the time of the fire, the Ohio Penitentiary had doubled its holding capacity. This led to the state legislature to take matters into their own hands and create the Ohio Parole Board in 1931. The board released thousands of prisoners within a short time.
Reference
Ohio Historical Society, . "Ohio Penitentiary Fire-Ohio History Central-A product of the Ohio Historical Society." (2010): n. pag. Web. 12 Apr 2010.
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec558&nm=Ohio-Penitentiary-Fire
The Site Today -
No comments:
Post a Comment