By John Annese
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Smoldering toilet paper fire sent smoke pouring into a locked-down unit of the notorious MDC Brooklyn federal jail, sending inmates into a panic as they had to wait for someone to notice their plight because the emergency buttons in their cells weren’t working, the Daily News has learned.
The scary scene unfolded on the eighth floor of the troubled Sunset Park jail around 11:50 a.m. Saturday, defense attorneys and jail reform advocates told The News.
The unit had been placed on lockdown because of an earlier fight between two inmates, meaning inmates could not leave their cells.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesman confirmed the smoke condition and the earlier fight, but wouldn’t call the incident a fire.
“On September 18, there was no fire at MDC Brooklyn. However, we can confirm there was an isolated incident in which an inmate ignited a small amount of toilet paper, causing light smoke to enter an air‑conditioning vent,” said BOP spokesman Scott Taylor. “Staff responded promptly; the smoke cleared, and no inmates or staff were injured.”
One inmate described a chaotic scene, according to lawyer Nora Hirozawa of the Federal Defenders.
“During a recent lockdown, our client and his cellmate were trapped inside their cell for approximately half an hour as it filled with smoke coming from an air vent, due to a fire,” Hirozawa said. “They repeatedly pressed the emergency button, screamed for help, and kicked the door of their cell, but no one arrived until 30 minutes later.”
Sources familiar with the incident said some inmates covered their faces with makeshift masks as they yelled and banged on the door — because the emergency buttons in their cells were either broken or being ignored — while others used a wet towel to block the bottom of a cell door to prevent smoke from getting in.
“No one should have to worry about making it out of MDC Brooklyn alive, regardless of the charges against them,” Hirozawa said.
Broken or missing emergency buttons have long been a problem inside MDC Brooklyn, and the issue has featured in the ongoing federal court mediation between the Federal Defenders and the Bureau of Prisons.
Asked about whether the buttons worked, the BOP spokesman said, “ The Bureau of Prisons remains committed to the safety of staff and inmates. All incidents are reviewed to ensure safety protocols and emergency notification procedures are functioning as intended, and any concerns are addressed immediately.”
Regarding the lockdown, Hirozawa said, “While we understand MDC’s need to maintain institutional safety, facility-wide lockdowns should be used sparingly. During lockdowns our clients are locked in their cells with a cellmate for hours on end and sometimes for multiple days. If there’s a fire or a medical emergency, they have no way to escape or seek help.”
“The lockdowns,” she continued, “also create a significant barrier to detainees maintaining communication with family members and counsel, accessing discovery and engaging in rehabilitative programs.”
Advocates with The Remedy Project, which focuses on conditions at the MDC, said that one of its members reported waiting 30 to 45 minutes before jail staff evacuated the cells.
“The fire at MDC Brooklyn on Friday, September 18th, 2026, and MDC staff’s slow and unconcerned response to it, highlights a longstanding pattern at the institution of complete disregard for the health and well-being of the people they are charged with caring for,” said Colin Adams, The Remedy Project’s program director.
Earlier this month, on Sept. 6, multiple inmates were hospitalized after a massive gang-related brawl in a different unit of the jail, The News reported.
MDC Brooklyn, which houses confessed CEO killer Luigi Mangione and ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, has long been plagued by notoriously dire conditions, including violence, episodes of severe medical neglect, moldy and infested food and, in 2019, an eight-day blackout in the dead of winter.
This year so far, the jail has seen two deaths, including an inmate who died of a suspected drug overdose, with pills found near him, in a solitary confinement cell on July 21; and a Mexican national transferred to the U.S. in a cartel case who was found hanging in his cell on April 18. In the summer of 2024, two MDC inmates were stabbed to death in a pair of bloody, minutes-long fights.
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