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| Investigator: Smoke Detector Didn't Work On Night of Fatal N.C. Jail Fire |
| By Charlotte Observer |
| Published: 07/19/2002 |
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A private investigator discovered this month that a smoke detector in the Mitchell County jail was missing its battery, leading him to believe the detector did not work the night a fire killed eight inmates. The investigator discovered the missing battery -- and evidence the detector had not been touched since the May 3 fire -- during an inspection of the jail on July 1, said Ben Baker, an attorney representing the families of three inmates who died in the fire. Baker's firm hired the investigator. It was one of three smoke detectors in the 57-year-old jail, and would have been the most likely to sound first and save lives, Baker said. 'It's closest to the fire,' he said, 'and would have provided the employees of the county with more time to get upstairs and unlock the doors to let the prisoners out.' Mitchell County officials dispute the claim, saying state investigators have told them all three detectors worked the night of the fire; the most recent N.C. Division of Facility Services inspection in November indicated the smoke detectors worked. But seven of the nine surviving inmates, and a firefighter who was one of the first at the scene, have told the Observer they didn't hear the detectors at any time during the fire. The newspaper has been unable to speak with the other survivors. State Bureau of Investigation agents believe the fire started in the area of a wall-mounted electric heater in a wood-frame storage area behind and attached to the jail. Smoke quickly filled the two-story jail, and eight of the 17 inmates -- one in a downstairs holding cell, seven in the upstairs cell block -- died of smoke inhalation in one of the worst jail fires in N.C. history. Baker hired James Munger, a fire-scene expert from Cullman, Ala., to conduct his own probe of the fire's cause. Baker, of Montgomery, Ala., said he did not want Munger to comment because Munger might eventually testify about his findings in court, although no fire-related lawsuits have been filed. Munger found three smoke detectors, all small, disc-shaped and battery-powered, the kind seen in most homes. The connections for their 9-volt batteries are behind the devices, accessible only when you remove them from their mounts, Baker said. The downstairs detector on July 1 was covered in as much soot as the wall, with no handprints visible on its surface, he said. 'There was no indication that it had ever been removed,' Baker said. 'It was a surprise to me.' The firm believes the detector did not sound because of its condition and because surviving inmates have said they did not hear alarms that night, Baker said. |
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