Rikers Island detainees sue NYC after they were trapped in cells during jail fire
A group of men who were trapped inside their cells while a fire broke out in a Rikers Island facility last year is suing the city, claiming officers at the troubled jail failed to bring them to safety while their rooms filled with smoke.
“The incarcerated individuals housed in the North Infirmary Command were locked in their cells and dormitories where they choked on toxic black smoke, some vomiting, some losing consciousness, all gasping for air, because the City had trapped them in the facility while its own employees escaped to safety,” the lawsuit states.
Attorneys representing the men argue the response to the fire illustrates the dysfunction at Rikers Island, which is under federal monitorship. The lawsuit points out sprinkler systems in the building weren’t working when the blaze erupted, which was highlighted in the December report. The suit alleges that officials failed to “operate, repair and maintain its jails consistent with the minimum standards for fire safety.
Lax also said the fire highlighted in the lawsuit is one of many infernos that erupt at the jail every year.
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