A fire in the cell of a convicted killer at the Northern Correctional Institution in Conn. sent two prison officers to the hospital Wednesday night, the Journal Inquirer newspaper of Manchester reported.

The fire at 9:35 p.m. Wednesday is the third in three years inside the cell of Alex Sostre, who is serving a life sentence for murdering East Hartford police Officer Brian Aselton in 1999.

Sostre, 28, was not injured in the fire.

Two correctional officers were treated for smoke inhalation, but were not seriously injured, said Correction Department spokesman Edward Ramsey. Seventeen inmates in Sostre's unit were evacuated to an adjacent recreation yard.

Ramsey did not know what was burned or if Sostre was in his cell when the fire broke out.

State police were investigating the fire.