{"id":2012487,"date":"2023-08-25T19:18:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T23:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hundreds-of-inmates-evacuated-after-large-blaze-breaks-out-at-historic-texas-prison\/"},"modified":"2023-08-25T19:20:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T23:20:38","slug":"hundreds-of-inmates-evacuated-after-large-blaze-breaks-out-at-historic-texas-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hundreds-of-inmates-evacuated-after-large-blaze-breaks-out-at-historic-texas-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Texas prison evacuated due to massive fire."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhundreds-of-inmates-evacuated-after-large-blaze-breaks-out-at-historic-texas-prison%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2012487&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<h2>An\u200c Early Morning Fire Forces Evacuation of Texas\u200d State Prison<\/h2>\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hundreds-of-inmates-evacuated-after-large-blaze-breaks-out-at-historic-texas-prison\/\" title=\"Historic Texas prison evacuated due to massive fire.\">early morning fire erupted<\/a> on Friday at a Texas state prison, forcing\u200d officials to evacuate about 650 inmates in the historic facility in Huntsville,\u2062 according to the Texas \u2064Department\u200b of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).<\/p>\n<p>The Huntsville\u200c Fire Department responded\u200b to the large \u200bblaze that \u2062broke out at about 2:30\u2062 a.m. at the \u2064174-year-old Huntsville \u2064Unit, TDCJ spokesperson Amanda \u200bHernandez\u200b told The Epoch Times in an email.<\/p>\n<p>The fire \u200baffected the attic and third floor of \u200cthe administration \u2064building and the attic of a unit\u2063 that\u200c houses\u200d inmates,\u200b according to Ms. Hernandez.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n              <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/in-depth-texas-prisons-are-cooking-their-inmates-in-cells-without-air-conditioning-families-say-5449229\">IN-DEPTH: \u2064Texas Prisons are &#8216;Cooking&#8217; Their Inmates in Cells Without Air-Conditioning, Families Say<\/a>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/9\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n              <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/republicans-call-for-sba-accountability-on-disaster-response-to-maui-fires-5480105\">Republicans Call for SBA \u2064Accountability on Disaster Response to\u2064 Maui \u200cFires<\/a>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/24\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;All \u2064inmates, staff, and first responders are safe,&#8221; she\u2062 said.<\/p>\n<p>The Huntsville Unit is also known as\u200b the Walls Unit for the 15-foot brick wall that surrounds the\u200c prison yard. \u200bIt is the oldest \u200dprison in Texas and is located near downtown Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston.<\/p>\n<p>More than \u2063300 \u2062inmates were relocated\u2063 when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-press-secy-psaki-dodges-questions-on-u-s-relations-with-israel\/\" title=\"White House Press Secy Psaki dodges questions on U.S. relations with Israel\">fire started<\/a>, but as it spread, more inmates \u2064had to be moved to another part \u2064of the prison.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Approximately 650 inmates were evacuated to\u2062 a\u2062 secure location.&#8221; Ms.\u200b Hernandez\u2062 said, adding \u200bthat about 400\u2062 of\u200d the\u200d inmates will be relocated\u200d to\u2064 other \u200cfacilities\u2064 across the state.<\/p>\n<p>Huntsville Fire Chief Greg Mathis told local news stations that crews arrived quickly \u2063at the scene, where they found heavy smoke coming from a cell block.<\/p>\n<p>Huntsville Fire Department \u2062requested mutual \u200daid\u2064 from several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fire-breaks-out-at-paul-newmans-camp-for-sick-children-but-no-injuries-reported\/\" title=\"Fire Breaks Out At Paul Newman\u2019s Camp For Sick Children, But No Injuries Reported\">fire departments<\/a>, including Dodge \u200bFire Department, Prairie View Volunteer Fire Department, Riverside, Montgomery County, Walker County\u200d Emergency Service District 1, and New Waverly Fire Department.<\/p>\n<p>Huntsville Police Department \u2062was also on\u2064 the\u2062 scene to assist.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Mathis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-backs-republican-covid-19-package-after-mcconnell-rejects-bipartisan-proposal\/\" title=\"Trump backs Republican COVID-19 package after McConnell rejects bipartisan proposal\">told reporters<\/a> during\u2064 a press briefing that even &#8220;after the main body\u200b of fire was knocked down,&#8221;\u200c firefighters were continuing\u2064 to put out hot spots, or smaller fires, in the administration building.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is going to be a pretty extensive mop-up \u200boperation,&#8221; Mr. Mathis said.<\/p>\n<p>The extent of \u2064the damage to\u200c the facility is not immediately known.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Hernandez said the cause \u200dof the fire has not been\u200d determined at this point.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will have a complete\u2063 investigation to determine [the cause],&#8221; she said. &#8220;We will complete an investigation in conjunction with the Huntsville Fire Department.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Mathis also\u2062 told reporters that the \u200ccause was unknown, and the State Fire \u200bMarshal&#8217;s Office had \u200dbeen notified\u200c about the incident.<\/p>\n<p>TDCJ \u2062has \u2062canceled visitation for the weekend. Relocated inmates who were scheduled for release over the next\u2064 week will still be released, but their release will take place at another facility.<\/p>\n<h2>Concerns Across the Texas Prison System<\/h2>\n<p>Huntsville \u2063is the \u2063headquarters \u200bof the\u200d Texas prison system, which houses \u2064about 130,000 inmates. The system \u2064has come under scrutiny over the lack of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/in-depth-texas-prisons-are-cooking-their-inmates-in-cells-without-air-conditioning-families-say-5449229\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">air-conditioning<\/a> in about 70 percent of its 100 \u200cunits and concerns over fire prevention.<\/p>\n<p>In\u200b 2021, \u200ba report by the State \u200bFire Marshal\u200c showed that most \u200dof the units&#8217; fire alarm\u2062 systems\u200d weren&#8217;t functioning\u200d properly. Inspectors found nearly 1,700 violations and \u200dalso noted that steam kettles were often used as fryers.<\/p>\n<p>There \u2063were no recor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fire broke out at a Texas state prison, leading to the evacuation of 650 inmates in Huntsville. The Huntsville Fire Department responded to the blaze at the 174-year-old Huntsville Unit at 2:30 a.m., according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1556,"featured_media":2012488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2012488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}