Almost no one person responding to the riot at the Camp Street Prison on March 3, escaped the alleged abuse and assault by inmates.

Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle took the stand at the Inquiry on Wednesday and testified of his own abuse within the jailhouse on the day in question.

Gentle said he was verbally abused and spat on by inmates.

The Fire Chief said when he arrived at Camp Street the fires were already put out but from his assessment of the environment, it remained volatile and violent. “One person said why the F%$king fire chief coming now and we want to F$%k up the prisons”.

According to him the environment remained highly sensitive for a long while and emergency respondents were even anticipating a jail break.

“I was [spat] on when I was passing an area called the cage… inmates were rocking the fence and I still ventured forward… the prison environment was still in riot and anything could have happened.”

Gentle said from his assessment, firefighters faced great danger trying to put out the blaze that claimed the lives of 17 inmates.

The Fire Chief placed continued emphasis on the fact that there was a riotous situation. “The prisoners were out of control and the safety of emergency response teams needed to be taken seriously,” he said.

He also pointed the Commission to a recent case in Honduras where fire officers were taken hostage while responding to an emergency at a prison.

The Fire Chief also placed on record that the Fire Service did not have everything needed to respond to such circumstances.

“What we have is doing a favorably job with regards to the risk faced with… what is needed would be a long list,” he added.

He said since he joined the fire service over 30 years ago, it had been faced with damaged and failed fire hydrants but initiatives have been taken to remedy the situation. Gentle did not complete his testimony in chief and will continue tomorrow.

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