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Locked In
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Dark HistoryJun 08, 2026

Locked In

Locked In April 21, 1930. Columbus, Ohio. Scaffolding caught fire on the prison roof. Smoke poured into the cellblocks below. Guards refused to unlock the cells. 322 inmates burned or suffocated in their cages. Some were freed only after other prisoners stormed the guards. It remains America's deadliest prison fire.

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Source

Ohio History Connection, archived article on the 1930 Ohio Penitentiary Fire

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