Rikers Island detainees ‘left to suffer,’ locked inside burning building: suit

RIKERS ISLAND, Bronx (PIX11) – Several detainees contend they were locked in their cells and dormitories and “left to suffer” during a fire at Rikers Island, according to a new lawsuit.

The lawsuit, first reported by Gothamist , contends at least 15 people were left “gasping for air,”  choking “on toxic black smoke, some vomiting, some losing consciousness” during a fire in 2023.

“For inmates in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction… exposure to smoke from fires is a regular occurrence because of the malfeasance, deliberate indifference, and reckless disregard of human life,” the lawsuit reads.

The detainees affected were in the North Infirmary Command, an area where some inmates are kept in 23- to 24-hour per day lockdowns pretrial, according to the suit. When the fire broke out on April 6, 2023, it took officials nearly 15 minutes to address the fire, and there were no working sprinklers, according to the suit.

It took nearly 30 minutes for any detainees to be evacuated despite correction officers coming in and seeing the fire, the lawyers contend. Some detainees exposed to heavy smoke were never evacuated, according to the suit.

Some detainees contend they were never given medical attention they requested.

A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Corrections told PIX11 News the department has since made fire safety improvements to its jails, including increased inspections, broken sprinkler repairs, new fire extinguishers and equipment and new fire drills.

The lawsuit was filed Friday as a class action suit against the City of New York, New York City Health + Hospitals and a slew of city officials.

A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department said the department will review the case and respond in the litigation.

Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered New York City since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here .

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