On This Day in Ohio History: The Deadly Ohio State Penitentiary Fire

On April 21, 1930, a devastating fire broke out at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus, resulting in the deaths of 322 inmates, making it the deadliest prison fire in American history. The tragedy exposed serious issues of overcrowding and inadequate safety measures at the facility.

The Disaster

The fire started when a candle ignited oily rags on a roof in the prison’s six-story West Block, east of Neil Avenue on the western edge of the prison. It was first noticed after prisoners had been locked in their cells for the evening. The wooden scaffolding began to burn, creating noxious smoke. Men pleaded with guards to unlock doors as the smoke filled their cells. Reports say that many guards refused to unlock cells when smoke entered the cell block and left the prisoners in their cells, although some did provide help.

When the fire began, men were left to burn, locked in their cells. Soon a local battalion of 500 armed soldiers set up machine guns and loaded rifles, leveled at the inmates in warning. Two inmates took their chances and forced keys from a guard, and then began releasing their fellow prisoners. Before smoke reduced visibility and the flames closed in, the two men were able to free about 50 prisoners.

In the midst of the flames, inmates and guards alike reported stories of heroism and sacrifice. One prisoner died inside the cell block after returning twelve times to rescue fellow inmates, while a guard recalled awaking from unconsciousness to find two prisoners carrying him out.

Investigation and Theories

One theory about the fire’s cause was that oily rags were left near a candle on the roof of one of the buildings housing prisoners. Another theory was that it started with a blowtorch in an area being remodeled. Prisoners testified that they heard an explosion just before the fire.

Prison officials claimed that three prisoners, carrying out an escape attempt, had intentionally lit the fire. Two of the three accused inmates died by suicide in the months following the fire, which helped to support these claims. Others believe that the fire had been an accident and that the prison officials accused the inmates to divert attention away from the administration’s poor handling of the emergency.

According to one account, three prisoners had set the blaze in hopes that it would really start to burn around 4:30 p.m. They hoped that it would divert the guards’ attention from their escape, which they planned to take place when most of the prisoners were still in the dining hall. The fire smoldered too long, though, and didn’t erupt for an hour after that, just after the hundreds of prisoners had been returned to the cellblock.

The Aftermath

The tragedy was roundly condemned in the press as preventable. It also led to the repeal of laws on minimum sentences that had in part caused the overcrowding of the prison. The Ohio Parole Board was established in 1931 and within the next year more than 2,300 prisoners from the Ohio Penitentiary had been released on parole.

In 1930, conditions for prison reform were ripe following a series of nationwide prison riots that began in the summer of 1929 and intensified after the Ohio disaster. At the time, it was the deadliest fire in U.S. history inside of a building, aside from the fire that tragically ravaged the Iroquois Theater in 1903.

Within weeks of the tragedy, three separate investigations were launched by the state fire marshal, the Attorney General’s office, and the Ohio governor. The disaster led to significant reforms in prison safety standards nationwide, including requirements for fire-resistant materials in construction, improved emergency evacuation procedures, and stricter population limits in correctional facilities.

This catastrophic event remains a somber reminder in Ohio’s history of the importance of humane conditions and proper safety protocols in institutional settings.

Photo source: Dayton Daily News