Fire damaged the furniture manufacturing facility at the Alexander Correctional Institute this morning in Taylorsville.
A call was received by Alexander County 911 at 4:36 am of a working fire at the massive compound that houses around 1,000 inmates operated by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
The fire was located in the extreme western portion of the facility where furniture is manufactured by inmates. There were no inmates in the area at the time.
According to Alexander County Deputy Fire Marshall Garrett Huffman, the fire was result of oily rags being discarded in plastic barrels. The rags ignited as the result of combustion and started the fire which produced a significant amount of smoke. The sprinkler system did activate according to Huffman.
No inmates were impacted by the fire and the facility is secure according to John Bull, the Communications Officer/Adult Correction, North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Taylorsville, Wittenburg, and Hiddenite Fire Departments responded to the scene. The Stony Point Fire Department was listed on stand-by.
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