140-year-old prison in Pennsylvania catches fire, twice

0 Comment Nation, The Baltimore Sun

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SUNBURY, Pa. — Firefighters were back at a nearly 140-year-old central Pennsylvania prison Thursday morning after a blaze that prompted the evacuation of more than 200 inmates reignited.

Flames were seen around 6 a.m. Thursday shooting up the stone walls of a tower at the Northumberland County Prison in Sunbury, a city of 10,000 about 40 miles north of Harrisburg.

Thick smoke could be seen billowing from the roof of the stone building with castle-like parapets, which was built in the late 1800s and sits a few blocks from the banks of the Susquehanna River.

The original fire broke out Wednesday afternoon. It took firefighters more than eight hours to extinguish that blaze.

No injuries were reported to staff or the 208 inmates, who initially were taken under heavy guard to nearby Faith United Methodist Church. – Associated Press