I could smell it as soon as I neared the front entrance of the prison’s Intermediate Care Program (E-North) where I work in the afternoons...
It was the pungent and unmistakable odor of burnt paper and plastic. One whiff and I knew there had been a fire somewhere, and recently, too. And this is exactly what had happened. An emotionally disturbed man had set his cell ablaze while he was still inside it.
Once inside E-North, where the fire occurred, I could see a crowd of inmates and several guards surrounding cell #147 on the building’s first floor. As I got closer, I noticed a pile of blackened, soaking wet debris piled just outside the cell, while the inside of it was a charred mess.
Mister Feliciano (not his real name) was known for doing impulsive acts of self-destruction. He has a history of “cutting up”. This means cutting himself with sharp objects, usually can tops, to draw blood, as well as get lots of attention. He was often in a depressed state. Feliciano seldom laughed. A sad and dour expression on his face was and is the norm for him.
Soft-spoken and of a quiet disposition, Feliciano was also known for walking up to another inmate, and without any provocation on the part of the other man, slug him in the face without warning. Feliciano liked to pick fights in which, because of his slender build and his thick eye-glasses, he was sure to lose.
Mister Feliciano was also kept heavily medicated with an array of psychotropic drugs. I suppose this was to help control his depression and his aggressive behavior. For the most part, however, I noticed that these medications would cause Feliciano to move slowly and walk with a zombie-like shuffle, which is a common sight in institutions where such drugs are used extensively.
Feliciano was a sad soul, but I liked him. We spoke often. Occasionally he’d even show up in church on a Sunday morning. He would quietly enter the chapel and take a seat in one of the middle rows. I’d watch him from the front of chapel, as I have to sit on the raised platform which faces the congregation. And when I could, I would come over to greet him and shake his hand.
While Feliciano would not participate in the singing, he always seemed to listen intently to whatever was being said from the pulpit.
Unfortunately, for Mister Feliciano, around lunchtime he became depressed and then set the fire. Other men who were in the cell block at the time told me he started to place small piles of paper throughout his cell. He then took a disposable cigarette lighter and began to put the lighter’s flame to the paper. Within seconds, the flames had spread to his clothes and bedding. As the inmates began to scream, “Fire!” the guards quickly grabbed nearby fire extinguishers and began to douse the blaze.
Luckily for Feliciano, as the guards were trying to put out the fire, another fast thinking officer radioed the cell block’s control room to open his cell. With this done, Feliciano was quickly pulled from his burning living quarters. The officer’s actions probably kept Feliciano from serious injury.
Afterwards, once the fire was out, another group of guards who responded to the scene put a pair of handcuffs around Feliciano’s wrists, and he was promptly escorted to the facility’s Mental Health Observation Unit. He may remain in restricted confinement for a long time, and I am very sorry it had come to this.
Today’s fire was the second serious blaze at the prison this year. The last one was in March. It was in my cell block, too. I wrote about the earlier fire as well.
D.B.
Once inside E-North, where the fire occurred, I could see a crowd of inmates and several guards surrounding cell #147 on the building’s first floor. As I got closer, I noticed a pile of blackened, soaking wet debris piled just outside the cell, while the inside of it was a charred mess.
Mister Feliciano (not his real name) was known for doing impulsive acts of self-destruction. He has a history of “cutting up”. This means cutting himself with sharp objects, usually can tops, to draw blood, as well as get lots of attention. He was often in a depressed state. Feliciano seldom laughed. A sad and dour expression on his face was and is the norm for him.
Soft-spoken and of a quiet disposition, Feliciano was also known for walking up to another inmate, and without any provocation on the part of the other man, slug him in the face without warning. Feliciano liked to pick fights in which, because of his slender build and his thick eye-glasses, he was sure to lose.
Mister Feliciano was also kept heavily medicated with an array of psychotropic drugs. I suppose this was to help control his depression and his aggressive behavior. For the most part, however, I noticed that these medications would cause Feliciano to move slowly and walk with a zombie-like shuffle, which is a common sight in institutions where such drugs are used extensively.
Feliciano was a sad soul, but I liked him. We spoke often. Occasionally he’d even show up in church on a Sunday morning. He would quietly enter the chapel and take a seat in one of the middle rows. I’d watch him from the front of chapel, as I have to sit on the raised platform which faces the congregation. And when I could, I would come over to greet him and shake his hand.
While Feliciano would not participate in the singing, he always seemed to listen intently to whatever was being said from the pulpit.
Unfortunately, for Mister Feliciano, around lunchtime he became depressed and then set the fire. Other men who were in the cell block at the time told me he started to place small piles of paper throughout his cell. He then took a disposable cigarette lighter and began to put the lighter’s flame to the paper. Within seconds, the flames had spread to his clothes and bedding. As the inmates began to scream, “Fire!” the guards quickly grabbed nearby fire extinguishers and began to douse the blaze.
Luckily for Feliciano, as the guards were trying to put out the fire, another fast thinking officer radioed the cell block’s control room to open his cell. With this done, Feliciano was quickly pulled from his burning living quarters. The officer’s actions probably kept Feliciano from serious injury.
Afterwards, once the fire was out, another group of guards who responded to the scene put a pair of handcuffs around Feliciano’s wrists, and he was promptly escorted to the facility’s Mental Health Observation Unit. He may remain in restricted confinement for a long time, and I am very sorry it had come to this.
Today’s fire was the second serious blaze at the prison this year. The last one was in March. It was in my cell block, too. I wrote about the earlier fire as well.
D.B.
