Inmate charged after fire at Allegheny County Jail
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A man incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail is facing charges after police said he started a fire that sent three people to the hospital earlier this week.
Correctional officers on the sixth floor saw smoke coming from a cell around 10:30 p.m. on Monday, a spokesperson for the jail said. Although there was no "active fire," the fire alarm was activated.
Pittsburgh firefighters responded, evacuated all the cells on the unit and contained the scene.
The jail's medical team evaluated everyone and sent an inmate and two correctional officers to the hospital. They were treated and released and returned to the facility before the end of shift, said the jail's spokesperson. Police said a second inmate was treated at the jail by the medical team.
Allegheny County police said the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire's investigation unit determined the fire was incendiary in nature and 49-year-old Brian Leach was responsible. Detectives said he was housed in the cell where the fire, which was contained to an air vent, broke out, but police didn't say how it was started.
Leach is charged with one count of criminal mischief and three counts of recklessly endangering another person. He's still in the Allegheny County Jail.
According to Allegheny County's website, the jail's currently houses about 1,600 people.
