The Hughes fire not only caused intense flames also disassembled the controversy for the safety of thousands of inmates at the Pi PiSess Detention Center. Janet Asante, spokesman for Dignity and Power Now, a non -profit organization that defends the rights of imprisoned people on Wednesday night to the sheriff Robert Lun Ignore the warnings of the advance of the Hughes fire. ” The Hughes fire began around 11:00 am on Wednesday in a remote area of the East Area of Lake Castaic, located 43 miles north of Los Angeles, which was helped to grow in danger due to the strong gusts of the Holy Winds Ana, according to Cal Fire authorities. The flames have already burned more than 10,000 grassland and weed acres and the fire has been contained in 36%. In fact, Justicela demanded the immediate evacuation of the four buildings that make up the Pitches Detention Center. This did not happen. “For months, we knew that the county only has 20 buses to transport imprisoned people and many of them do not work,” Asante said. “In danger were thousands of people.” In a report, the sheriff Luna said he would keep the inmates in the place. The last time Asante had verified the closeness of the fire of the prison facilities, it was half mile.“You could see the flames from the front of the facilities,” he said. “The news and images showed helicopters by launching fire retardants near prisons.” He informed that his concern was because members of Dignity and Power who have relatives in jail, “many of whom forget that they are in preventive detention, and that many more are there due to mental illnesses.” Indeed, in the Pitsss detention center there is a population of 1,200 individuals with mental problems. It was reported that 476 prisoners of the Pitches Detention Center that were evacuated on Wednesday as a consequence of the fierce Hughes fire in Castaic, continue to be protected in the North Correctional Center of the Los Angeles County. “The evacuation order of the rest of the prisoners was lifted at 9:00 am (on Thursday),” officer Gabriela Robles, from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department (Lasd). Those who were moved to the building with cement walls, are still there. ” Robles said that “the good” was that, in addition, there was no danger of fire for the houses and ravages of the fire Hughes have concentrated in desert and mountainous areas. Luna’s reasonsLuna, Chief of Lasd, described that on Wednesday at noon, approximately 476 inmates of the southern facilities of the Pitches Detention Center (PDC) were transferred to the North County Correctional Installation, (NCCF) located in the northern part of the prison complex. Luna pointed out that this precautionary measure “was taken by having as the highest priority the security of those who are in our care.” He said that Custody staff coordinated six buses to help with the relocation of inmates.The inmates of the East Installation of the PDC, which houses the inmates of the Fire camping, were also transferred to the NCCF. To protect themselves against smoke exposure, the air circulation system in NCCF was temporarily closed in all housing units and agents offered N95 masks to inmates and staff. “These proactive measures were taken to protect everyone’s health and well -being in the prison complex while the fire department staff continued to fight the Hughes fire,” said the head of the sheriff. Luna added that the head of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Anthony C. Marrone and the experts of his command staff reviewed the behavior of Hughes Fire, the type of building construction and the shape of fire fuel and recommended to the Sheriff and custody executives have all the refuge of the PDC complex in their place. After evaluating the strategic options, the risks to the safety of life and defensible space around prisons, Sheriff Luna made the decision to take refuge in prisoners and more than 300 members of the custody personnel in the building. “This tactic, backed by the leadership of the Fire Department of Los Angeles County, is a proven and effective strategy,” said Lasd. The approach to take refuge in the place (staying in the building) was used more recently at the Pepperdine University during the Franklin fire and at the Olive View hospital during the Hurst Fire, where more than a thousand students were recommended to take refuge in the place Due to the challenges of safely transferring large groups in an insecure environment. Feared for the life of his relativeIn the midst of chaos, Camila Sánchez, told the opinion that he felt fear for the life of a relative who has been in preventive detention for three years in Pitches Detention Center. “It was very difficult and frustrating having feelings and thoughts that there is not much to do when you can do when things do not depend on you,” he said. Camila’s concern increased with the passing of the hours, since he was only informed that some inmates were transferred from the southern installation to the North County Center, which is one of the four Pitches Detention Center buildings. He said he spent all night trying to obtain information through the Watch Duty application, and reviewing the different news sources that sail on Instagram, Facebook and Google.“I called this morning (Thursday) and the computer did not work. I couldn’t even check if they had buses ready to leave in case of an evacuation. ” Camila’s concern was justified. Due to the scarcity of transport of LASD, three times his relative was not taken to a hearing prior to his trial in court. “In addition, a friend of mine, whose son is imprisoned, told me that in one of the facilities they had barely distributed paper masks to cover their faces and that they had closed the bedrooms because they had to spray fire retarders outside the buildings,” Camila said. Thousands with evacuation ordersLuna said that 31,000 people are under the … Read more
