CHICAGO (WBBM Newsradio) – Ten correctional deputies and a man in custody were taken to hospitals Sunday after a mattress fire inside a cell at Cook County Jail, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.
Deputies responded around 3 p.m. to a small fire on Tier 5A in the jail’s Residential Treatment Unit. The fire appeared to have been set by the man in the cell, though its cause remains under investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies quickly extinguished the fire and evacuated the man, who was the cell’s only occupant. Smoke prompted the precautionary evacuation of everyone in custody on the fifth floor.
The 10 deputies were taken to local hospitals for smoke inhalation and were listed in stable condition. The sheriff’s office said their transport was precautionary.
The man was taken to a hospital in good condition as a precaution. He was later discharged and cleared to return to the jail.
Everyone else who was evacuated returned to their living units after the smoke cleared.
