An inmate sets fire to the Rikers Island prison; confirms 20 injured

NEW YORK — A fire started by an inmate at New York’s troubled Rikers Island prison injured 20 people the day lawmakers toured the prison complex, authorities said.

Fifteen staff and five inmates were injured in the fire that broke out around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, the city’s Department of Corrections said. The New York City Fire Department extinguished the blaze within an hour, a department spokesperson said.

Fifteen of the injured were taken to hospitals for treatment, while the other five refused to receive medical treatment, the fire department said. Information on the victims’ conditions was not available on Friday.

“The health and safety of those who work and live in our facilities is our top priority,” said James Boyd, Deputy Commissioner of Public Information for the Department of Corrections, in a statement from the person involved pending the result of the investigation.

The fire broke out on a day when a group of Democratic state lawmakers traveled to Rikers Island to highlight their opposition to Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed changes to New York’s bail laws. The plan to give judges more leeway to set bail is one of the main issues holding up negotiations over the state budget.

Lawmakers pointed to rising deaths at Rikers Island and warned of disastrous results if bail reforms passed in 2019 are reversed and more inmates are sent to Rikers and other prisons.

“We will have blood on our hands if we allow these changes to the New York State budget to be implemented,” said Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.

State lawmakers did not visit the unit where the fire occurred and appear to have left before it was reported.