|
|
| Fla. Jail Called Unsafe Dungeon |
| By Miami Herald |
| Published: 04/18/2003 |
|
Miami-Dade County's top building official on Tuesday declared the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center an ''unsafe structure'' because its fire alarms and smoke sensors don't work. Corrections officials were ordered to make repairs to the jail more than a year ago but failed to comply with an order to do so from the county's fire marshal. Building Director Charles Danger said the 1,300-bed, maximum-security facility may have to be evacuated if the county's Unsafe Structures Board refuses to go along with an emergency plan to keep it open while repairs are made. ''That place is a dungeon,'' Danger said. 'It's a nine-story building with no windows. And if there's a fire, it could be a real disaster with major loss of life.'' Danger said that TGK's fire alarms don't work and neither do smoke sensors that would activate fans to prevent smoke from spreading throughout the prison. And he said a sprinkler system hasn't been properly tested. ''What kills people in fires is smoke, and there's no smoke evacuation system,'' Danger said. That's especially critical for a prison because inmates can't be released onto the street in case of a fire. Instead, they must be transferred to a safe, smoke-free area such as a courtyard, officials said. Danger noted TGK is not an old building, but said scant attention has been paid to its fire-safety systems since it first opened in 1989. A corrections spokesman said he couldn't elaborate on the problems because of ongoing talks with fire-rescue and building officials about how to fix them. ''It's still an open issue that we're trying to resolve,'' said Charles McRay, deputy director of corrections. He said ''vendor problems'' were to blame for the department's inability to comply with a year-old consent order issued by the fire marshal. Fire-Rescue Chief Alfredo Suarez, who is also the county's fire marshal, said problems with TGK's fire-safety system date back to late 1999. At that time, some of the alarms worked, and efforts were made to repair the ones that didn't. ''But rather than progressing, we went backward,'' said Suarez, who added that by 2001, he had to write a letter to Corrections Director Lois Spears about the problems. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
If you’re looking for a lawyer in Waco, you’ll need to know that the first to hire Dunnam & Dunnam usually wins. If you have a personal injury claim, an insurance claim, or other matter involving a court or business transaction you should contact the best Waco attorneys to explain your legal rights. You can contact them on the website link above.