Deputies: Inmates start fire at Fulton County Jail

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Inmates intentionally set fire

The Fulton County Sheriff confirms the inmates started the fire in order to fill an occupied jail cell with smoke.

Fulton County deputies say three inmates worked together to set a fire. It was no protest. Instead, they allegedly put a burning mattress cover inside a locked cell that was occupied by a prisoner. 

Of course, they did not know that when the Code Red alarm, signaling a fire, sounded.

Chaotic is how one 911 dispatcher described the initial scene, putting out a call for Atlanta Fire and Atlanta Police to respond to the jail. 

It happened on Saturday on the seventh floor, the top floor of the jail. 

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With quick containment, deputies identified the three who literally passed along the burning mattress cover. 

How did they get an item to ignite the mattress cover, that is undetermined right now. 

Those three maximum security inmates now have an additional charge, arson, lodged against them. 

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