Update: Cause of Fire at Old Joliet Prison Not Known, Fire Official Says

Update/posted at 10:15 a.m. Thursday:

Joliet fire officials do not know what caused a fire to break out in one of the buildings on the grounds of the former Joliet Correctional Center, Deputy Chief Ray Randich said today.

Given that all utilities to the prison -- including water to the on-site hydrants located on the interior grounds -- were shut off after the facility closed in 2002, electrical problems cannot be blamed, Randich said. And while there have been reports of squatters getting into the site, no one was found on the property by the time firefighters arrived at about 3:15 a.m., he said.

"I don't know if we'll ever find an answer to (what caused it)," Randich said.

The state fire marshal is on the scene, as are city investigators, he said.

The department was alerted the blaze by a passerby who reported seeing smoke coming from inside the prison walls. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire was already coming through the building's roof, Randich said.

Although the building is known by many as the mattress factory, where inmates once made mattresses for the prison and other state facilities, it had ceased that use long before the prison closed, he said. The warehouse was not currently storing any mattresses.

Firefighters were stymied in their effort to fight the blaze because the gate closest to the warehouse had been welded shut, Randich said. The first priority was to keep the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings, he said, so officials abandoned efforts to open the gate in favor of using extension ladders to spray water down on to the building, he said.

The blaze was extinguished in about three hours, although a skeleton crew is still on site to ensure that "hot spots" don't reignite it, he said.

Randich acknowledged that it's problem the department had such trouble accessing the site, but there might not be much that can be done to improve the situation given that the state has severe financial problems and many decisions, such as welding gates shut, were made years ago.

Original story/posted at 9:05 a.m. Thursday:

An early morning fire today destroyed a warehouse on the grounds of the shuttered Joliet Correctional Center.

The blaze was discovered shortly after 3 a.m. and damage was limited to the single building in which mattresses for the old prison had once been made, according to a Sun-Times Media Wire story.

Because Joliet firefighters couldn't get through the gates, which were welded shut, extension ladders were used to spray water down on top of the building, the story said.

Joliet Patch is awaiting more information from the Joliet Fire Department.