What?
Fire
I recently wrote a blog about a mate setting his cell on fire at the remand
centre in Symonston ACT as a bit of a prank.
I had someone comment on this blog saying that by putting on this prank we somehow wasted tax payers dollars which could have been better served being spent on the Canberra bushfires.
Now considering no extra staff were required there was no extra cost.
I think a more cost effective solution would be to stop locking guys in prison that offer no threat to society anyway!(Not to mention that guys on remand are not yet found guilty and many turn out to be innocent so should not be treated as criminals...INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!!)
And just to give you an idea of why we would play such a prank I will let
everyone know about the handling of the Canberra bushfires by ACT corrective services!
It was appalling!
I recall it was just before lunch when the first signs of how close the fires
were to the prison became clear the sky was orange and filled with smoke and bits of burnt leaves were raining into our small yard at the remand centre.
Shortly after this all the tv stations stopped running shows and began running emergency flashes with a list of the most in danger suburbs.
This went on for a few hours while everyone in the prison called there loved
ones to confirm there safety, many including my mate Pete could not get in touch with their loved ones.
It turned out Petes elderly mother had been evacuated to a shelter as her whole suburb of Duffy was under attack from the fires, he would not find this out until the following day.
Many of the inmates suspected thats where there loved ones were but the screws refused to ring the hotline to confirm this.
As the afternoon went on and the fires came closer more and more burnt cinders came pouring into our little yard and the air became hotter and more filled with smoke.
As things started to become a bit surreal and spooky the screws entered the yard and informed us that we had to return to our cells for a short period of time until a change of shift had occured, this sounded like a lie and turned out to be one.
Once back inside the cells it became apparent just how hot it was and so I lay near the crack under the door near the drapht of incoming air and wet my head every ten minutes.
My cell mate Pete flicked through tv stations and the radio trying to find out if his mothers house had been burned down.
As the evening came along there was an eery orange tinged darkness falling over the yard and the air became much thicker with smoke making breathing a bit difficult.
By 6pm we were all sweating profusly and breathing as best we could, the screws came past every half hour and we asked to be allowed into the yard but they continued to refuse.
Gaol cells have very little airflow and at the Symonston remand centre the only real fresh air enters the cells by way of an electric exhaust fan.
The water and flushing of the toilet are also run on electricity there.
By 7pm all power to the cells had failed due to the close proximity of the fire so there we sat in the dark with no water, no toilet and our cells slowly
filling with smoke.
We began to call out to the screws but they ignored us.
We begged to just be able to lay in the yard and have some water but still no response.
As breathing became more difficult we all began calling out to be moved to the other remand centre in Belconon which was further from the fires, still no response.
By 10pm we were beginning to become extremely concerned for our safety
espescially since the screws offered no help at all.
We began bangin plates and cups against the walls and started kicking our doors demanding to be released from these cells and taken somewhere safe.
This went on for at least an hour but the screws still refused to concern
themselves with our welfare!
Suddenly somehow two ladz that had been kicking there door relentlessly managed to kick it open and got out into the yard running to the office window banging on it and demanding safety for us all.
The screws left the office and we assumed that finally they would get us out of here.
Unfortunately we thought wrong as they returned with a riot squad in there full gear with shields and batons at the ready grabbing the two guys that got out and taking them away with a few well placed hits.
As time dragged on it became increasingly hard to breath and we got louder and louder until finally around 1 am the screws came into the yard and began putting us all in cuffs a sure sign we were finally about to be moved.
We were put into waiting vehicals and moved to the remand centre at Belconnon, it felt so good to be able to breath properly again and the drink of water I had when we got to Belco was one of the best Ive tasted.
We remained at Belco for a couple of weeks before returning to Symonston.
We were treated as animals actually I think I would treat my pets better during a time of danger!
See the Video Clip
Street Politiks
Sound Track Auto Play:
http://www.myspace.com/bigdaveemcee
Video:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1554458188
centre in Symonston ACT as a bit of a prank.
I had someone comment on this blog saying that by putting on this prank we somehow wasted tax payers dollars which could have been better served being spent on the Canberra bushfires.
Now considering no extra staff were required there was no extra cost.
I think a more cost effective solution would be to stop locking guys in prison that offer no threat to society anyway!(Not to mention that guys on remand are not yet found guilty and many turn out to be innocent so should not be treated as criminals...INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!!)
And just to give you an idea of why we would play such a prank I will let
everyone know about the handling of the Canberra bushfires by ACT corrective services!
It was appalling!
I recall it was just before lunch when the first signs of how close the fires
were to the prison became clear the sky was orange and filled with smoke and bits of burnt leaves were raining into our small yard at the remand centre.
Shortly after this all the tv stations stopped running shows and began running emergency flashes with a list of the most in danger suburbs.
This went on for a few hours while everyone in the prison called there loved
ones to confirm there safety, many including my mate Pete could not get in touch with their loved ones.
It turned out Petes elderly mother had been evacuated to a shelter as her whole suburb of Duffy was under attack from the fires, he would not find this out until the following day.
Many of the inmates suspected thats where there loved ones were but the screws refused to ring the hotline to confirm this.
As the afternoon went on and the fires came closer more and more burnt cinders came pouring into our little yard and the air became hotter and more filled with smoke.
As things started to become a bit surreal and spooky the screws entered the yard and informed us that we had to return to our cells for a short period of time until a change of shift had occured, this sounded like a lie and turned out to be one.
Once back inside the cells it became apparent just how hot it was and so I lay near the crack under the door near the drapht of incoming air and wet my head every ten minutes.
My cell mate Pete flicked through tv stations and the radio trying to find out if his mothers house had been burned down.
As the evening came along there was an eery orange tinged darkness falling over the yard and the air became much thicker with smoke making breathing a bit difficult.
By 6pm we were all sweating profusly and breathing as best we could, the screws came past every half hour and we asked to be allowed into the yard but they continued to refuse.
Gaol cells have very little airflow and at the Symonston remand centre the only real fresh air enters the cells by way of an electric exhaust fan.
The water and flushing of the toilet are also run on electricity there.
By 7pm all power to the cells had failed due to the close proximity of the fire so there we sat in the dark with no water, no toilet and our cells slowly
filling with smoke.
We began to call out to the screws but they ignored us.
We begged to just be able to lay in the yard and have some water but still no response.
As breathing became more difficult we all began calling out to be moved to the other remand centre in Belconon which was further from the fires, still no response.
By 10pm we were beginning to become extremely concerned for our safety
espescially since the screws offered no help at all.
We began bangin plates and cups against the walls and started kicking our doors demanding to be released from these cells and taken somewhere safe.
This went on for at least an hour but the screws still refused to concern
themselves with our welfare!
Suddenly somehow two ladz that had been kicking there door relentlessly managed to kick it open and got out into the yard running to the office window banging on it and demanding safety for us all.
The screws left the office and we assumed that finally they would get us out of here.
Unfortunately we thought wrong as they returned with a riot squad in there full gear with shields and batons at the ready grabbing the two guys that got out and taking them away with a few well placed hits.
As time dragged on it became increasingly hard to breath and we got louder and louder until finally around 1 am the screws came into the yard and began putting us all in cuffs a sure sign we were finally about to be moved.
We were put into waiting vehicals and moved to the remand centre at Belconnon, it felt so good to be able to breath properly again and the drink of water I had when we got to Belco was one of the best Ive tasted.
We remained at Belco for a couple of weeks before returning to Symonston.
We were treated as animals actually I think I would treat my pets better during a time of danger!
See the Video Clip
Street Politiks
Sound Track Auto Play:
http://www.myspace.com/bigdaveemcee Video:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1554458188 
