| March 14,
2002 |
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| Hallam
Charged with Setting Fire to Jail |
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| "Our jailers removed some contraband from his
mail earlier in the day, which set him off," McDevitt said. |
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| Around 6:20 P.M., Hallam allegedly stuffed the
sheet and magazines between the upper bars of a sixteen man cell. Detention
officers were able to extinguish the fire with only minimal damage
sustained to the jail. No one was injured. |
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| "When I arrived, there was quite a bit of
smoke," said McDevitt, who went to the jail after hearing detention officers
call for assistance. "Our jailers performed well and stuck to procedure, which
minimized the danger to inmates and themselves." |
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| The Morganton Department of Public Safety also
responded to the scene with fire apparatus and fans to alleviate the smoke,
jail supervisor Lt. John R. Head said. |
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| Hallam, 33, of Granite Falls, was moved into
solitary confinement at the Burke Catawba District Confinement Facility after
the incident. He was charged Thursday with burning a public building and is
being held without bond. He has a first court appearance on the burning charge
later today. |
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