No one was seriously injured in the fire on Wednesday evening, and yet the question arises as to how such an incident can occur in a monitored space such as a prison?
RTL's Pierre Jans asked the deputy director of the prison administration, Caroline Lieffrig, to elaborate on the matter. She confirmed that a prisoner started the fire in his cell. The probable motive of the fire is that the person did not want to accept a certain decision and lost their temper.
The fire was quickly extinguished and nine people who were in place at the time of the fire went to hospital for a medical checkup. The prisoner was hospitalised in Kirchberg due to a smoke intoxication.
Lieffrig said that the inmate is doing well, that he was released from hospital the next day and is back in Schrassig now.
Now the judicial police are investigating the incident. Besides the directorate, the ombudsman was also at the scene. The offender is now being looked after more closely by the institution's psycho-social services, said Lieffrig.
The inmates do not have too much freedom and no access to such substances. But there is a simple explanation for their ability to start a fire:
One has to consider that the cell is actually the prisoners' home. They are allowed to smoke normally in their cells, just like others do at home. That is the normalisation principle that is going on here. You're not normally allowed to smoke in the communal areas, there are fire alarms there too. And in the cells there are buttons to sound the alarm, Lieffrig explained.
There is also a security concept in every prison, for example an evacuation plan.
Inmate lights fire in own cell 12.08.2021
Fire breaks out at Schrassig prison, one inmate brought to hospital 18.06.2021
