The Associated Press
ALTON, Mo. — A fire in a southern Missouri county jail cell killed one inmate and sent five others to the hospital for smoke inhalation, authorities said.
The fire broke out Thursday night in a cell with four inmates at the Oregon County jail, which is on the Arkansas state line, about 125 miles southeast of Springfield, authorities said.
Inmates yelled to alert guards to the blaze, but the smoke was too thick for the jailer to enter the cell area, the sheriff’s office said.
Firefighters arrived within five minutes, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Inmate Jesse Johnson, 17, was declared dead at the scene. He and three other men were in the cell where the fire started, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office was unable to say what Johnson was jailed for or to provide any other details about him.
The state fire marshal is investigating the blaze.