Four hundred out of 650 prisoners who were evacuated from the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville due to a fire early Friday have been transferred to other Texas prisons.
Huntsville FD officials received multiple reports of heavy smoke at the prison at around 2 a.m.
When they arrived, flames were discovered at the west building, impacting the west wing attic and parts of the third-floor administration building.
About 650 inmates were evacuated overnight. At this time, no injuries were reported.
Four hundred of the 650 inmates were transferred to other state facilities due to bedding issues.
Visitations at the jail are canceled until further notice.
Multiple fire units from New Waverly, Montgomery, Walker, and several other mutual aid fire departments assisted Huntsville in extinguishing the fire in other areas of the prison.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but authorities confirmed the fire started in an attic space.
Friday, TDCJ said it was too early to determine how long the housing unit would be out of service.