Over the last three years, there have been more than 70 fires at an Illinois prison. In a dozen of those cases, incarcerated men had set their own bodies on fire.

One man needed a skin graft.

Another lost a leg.

Two died. 

The Joliet Treatment Center was designed to provide mental healthcare to men in prison. But some people incarcerated there say they struggle to get support and spend long stretches isolated in their cells. In desperation, they’ve resorted to setting fires.

Officials at the Joliet Treatment Center have repeatedly failed to meet their responsibilities to prevent or respond to the fires, government records show.

Cellblocks lacked sprinklers, and fire alarms were turned off or inoperable. At an annual inspection, the prison would not provide a fire evacuation plan. Guards delayed ambulances that were responding to emergencies at the prison or trying to take men with serious injuries to the hospital.

Since our investigation, lawmakers, civil rights lawyers and watchdogs have called on the state to fix problems at the prison. “People's lives are in jeopardy,” said state Sen. Terri Bryant, a Republican.

In one case, a man named Jason Stephens was left in his smoke-filled cell for half an hour. Guards sprayed a fire extinguisher and pepper spray into his cell, but did not let him out. When firefighters arrived at the prison, one said employees did not immediately tell them a man was still locked inside a smoke-filled cell.

There were more delays when an ambulance tried to exit the prison. Guards refused to open the gate for the ambulance because they were waiting on paperwork and a guard to accompany Stephens to the hospital. The ambulance sat at the gate for 28 minutes, as fire department employees repeatedly called dispatch to say they were stuck.

According to one guard, a firefighter said, “This man can die while y’all pussyfooting around.”

Two weeks later, at age 38, Jason Stephens died.

This story was published in partnership with WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times.