Two inmates at Cessnock Correctional Centre have been moved to maximum security cells after a fire broke out at the jail on Sunday afternoon.
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Correctional Services NSW said prison officers responded to a blaze in a cell at Cessnock jail at 5.15pm on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly after extinguishing the first blaze, officers were alerted to a second fire in a “nearby” cell, which they also put out.
Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin said two inmates would face charges in relation to the incident and that they had been moved to “a maximum-security centre”.
He said prison wardens were able to control both fires and that no one was harmed.
"These officers put their own safety on the line to swiftly and professionally contain these two fires and their efforts should be applauded," he said.
A spokesperson for Fire and Rescue NSW said that two crews were called out to Cessnock jail but the fires were both out by the time crews arrived.
Paramedics were not called to the prison complex.
More details to come.
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