Police are recommending arson charges after a 43-year-old man set fire to his cell at the Prince George RCMP detachment.
RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said the man, who was in the cell alone, used a lighter to start the Sunday morning fire.
"He wasn't supposed have it, but he did have it," said Douglass, adding he couldn't say if the lighter was missed in the search before he was placed in custody. "That's something that we're looking into. We don't have all the answers, but there was a lighter found."
Officers discovered the smoke at around 10:30 a.m. at the Victoria Street location, the release said. They immediately put out the fire and evacuated all the prisoners from the cell block, including the man.
Douglass couldn't comment on why the man was originally arrested.
"He was there for a couple days and there were no problems with him, so it was kind of weird," Douglass said.
While only the one cell was damaged, a "significant amount of smoke was generated."
No one was injured and all prisoners were checked by paramedics, the release said.
They were sent to the Prince George Regional Correction Centre while the block is ventilated and cleaned, which Douglass said should be open by Sunday night or Monday at the latest.
"It's not going to be a long term thing," Douglass said. "There was no electrical or no plumbing damage. It's just a matter of cleaning it up and airing it out."
