Laborde Correctional inmates prepare for possible evacuation due to smoke from abandoned monofil plant

Smoke from a fire at the closed Cottonport Monofil plant has forced the Department of Corrections to order inmates at the nearby Raymond Laborde Correctional Center to "shelter in place" while the situation is evaluated.

Avoyelles Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Joey Frank said DOC officials told him earlier today that no decision had yet been made to evacuate the inmates, but that an evacuation could be ordered if the smoke hazard is not quickly resolved. If an evacuation is needed, the inmates would be transported to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

A Department of Corrections spokesman said more details on the situation at the state prison in Cottonport will be released later today.

The fire at the closed site started Sunday in a 60-x-60-ft, tire pit and has been burning ever since. The Department of Environmental Quality has sent personnel and equipment to Laborde Correctional and around the monofil plant to monitor air quality.

Frank said additional resources have been sent to the fire today to redouble efforts to extinguish the fire. The plan had been to "let it burn itself out" as a controlled burn, but the potential for health hazards due to smoke from the burning tires may have changed that strategy.