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Investigate the Sept 8 River North prison fires

By: UPROAR Admin · September 17, 2025
Investigate the Sept 8 Fires at River North — End Collective Punishment & Blackouts

On Sept 8, 2025 at River North (RNCC), multiple men in C-2 reportedly set themselves and their mattresses on fire. Witness accounts tie these acts of desperation to a pattern of collective punishment and communications blackouts that make it impossible to report danger or get help. This page gathers testimony and tools to demand an independent investigation, end blanket lockdowns, and restore kiosk/phone access.

Investigate the fires at River North—witness reports C-2 men set themselves & mattresses on fire (Sept 8–9); 60-day lockdown and phones/kiosks cut.

ℹ️ How this page works

  1. Read the red crisis box below for what’s happening now.
  2. File the Ombudsman complaint — copy the gray summary on this page into the OSIG form.
  3. Send the statewide letter (ActionNetwork) to stop collective punishment.
  4. Email & call key offices using the templates here; voicemail counts.
  5. Report what you did at the bottom so we can coordinate next steps.

Also take action for the witness who reported these fires: Protect Kenneth Evans ↗

Privacy: You can submit OSIG forms with minimal info or anonymously.

🔥 Crisis details 📝 Ombudsman form 📣 Statewide letter ✉️ Email 📞 Call ✅ Report action 👤 Help Kenneth

🔥 River North prison fires: what we know (per witness account)

  • Sept 8, 2025 — C-2 pod: multiple men set themselves and their mattresses on fire at about 10:30 AM and again at 3:30 PM.
  • Sept 9 (AM): another attempt triggered alarms; movement was curtailed.
  • Aftermath: RNCC then announced a 60-day lockdown of C-2 and cut phones/kiosks so “nobody could report it.”

Pattern & policy conflict (OP 861.1)

  • Pattern across SW Virginia prisons: reports from RNCC, Red Onion, Keen Mountain, and Wallens Ridge describe pod-wide penalties for others’ conduct, and facility-wide kiosk/phone cuts after incidents.
  • Why that matters: VADOC Operating Procedure 861.1 requires individualized, post-conviction, time-limited discipline. Pod-wide lockdowns and property/privilege seizures punish people without an individual conviction.
  • Blackouts compound harm: cutting phones/kiosks blocks medical requests, family notification, and oversight—fueling crises rather than resolving them.
🔊 Hear Kenneth Evans (1:36) — recorded Sept 9, 2025 about Sept 8 fires in C-2 and the 60-day lockdown. Content note: self-harm & fire. Read transcript • Download MP3 • Full campaign for Evans ↗
▼ Verbatim 9/9 call transcript
Evans: … slit his face and both of his wrists to get up off here [away from River North]. He cut his face like a joker and slit his wrist to get up off here. Yesterday, c2 burned their cells up to get up off here because the crisis, they put them on lock for 60 days. For 60 days, a whole pod or not, for something that two people did. That’s crazy. Man, No, Sir. Interviewer: Did they set themselves on fire, or just their cell? Did they set them themselves on fire? Or just like the things in the pod? Evans: they set themselves and their cells on Fire. Do you know? Do you fire? They set the mattresses on fire and were standing on top of the mattresses burning. Interviewer: What cell was that? Evans: I don’t know what cell they was in. I don’t know what cell, but I know it was c2, I’m in c1. Interviewer: That was yesterday? Evans: That was yesterday, yesterday at 1030 in the morning. Then they did it again at 330 then they tried to do it this morning. So we couldn’t come out for real, real but they tried to do it this morning. The alarm went off, and they closed off real quick. But the officer came in here with, you know how you spread a fire extinguisher all over his shoes and pants all that, like the major, all them was in here. They just came here to make sure everybody locked down. They want no urgency to that. They all they did was lock the whole building in, so couldn’t nobody get on the phone, so couldn’t nobody report it. Man, these people are unsafe. At this point. All they’re trying to do is protect their jobs. They don’t care about safety. At this point, it’s not about public safety, no more. They don’t care about that, its, about their jobs.

Immediate demands after the River North prison fires

Who must act: VADOC Director & Chief of Operations; River North Warden Kevin McCoy; OSIG & State Fire Marshal; Governor’s Office. Timeline: acknowledge receipt within 24 hours; publish initial findings and restore communications within 72 hours.

  • Independent investigation (OSIG + State Fire Marshal) of 9/8–9/9 events and RNCC response; publish findings.
  • Rescind blanket punishment (60-day pod-wide lockdown) and use individualized discipline per OP 861.1.
  • Restore communications (kiosk/phone/email) so incidents can be reported and families notified.
  • Immediate medical & mental-health care, with outside hospital review for all affected.
Definition of done: public confirmation of incident/ICS numbers; a written directive ending pod-wide penalties; kiosk/phone access restored; Fire Marshal involvement confirmed; medical/MH checks documented for all affected.

📝 File an OSIG Ombudsman Complaint (Virginia)

You may submit anonymously. If the site says “Your form has expired,” reload and paste again.

  • Relationship to Inmate: Concerned community member.
  • Facility Name: River North Correctional Center (RNCC), Independence, VA.
  • Unit: C-2 (fires) and C-1 (witness housed).
  • Summary of what occurred: Paste the gray box below titled “OMBUDSMAN — Summary”.
  • Subjects Involved: RNCC leadership; responding officers; watch command; any staff who ordered/implemented comms blackout.
  • Evidence available: tier cameras (all angles) 9/6–9/9; fire/EMS logs; incident reports; radio & watch-commander logs; kiosk/phone status logs.

➡️ Submit Ombudsman Complaint

📣 Statewide Letter — End Collective Punishment (OP 861.1)

Send this letter to Virginia legislators and oversight to stop pod-wide punishments and enforce OP 861.1.

✉️ Email about the River North prison fires

Send this first. Personalize the first 1–2 lines if you can, then click “Open Email Draft.”

📞 Call about the River North prison fires

Make 1–2 calls (voicemail counts). Be polite but firm. Ask to speak on the record and request a written reply by 24–48 hours.

Call targets
• VADOC Director — (804) 887-8080
• Chief of Corrections Operations — (804) 887-8078
• OSIG Corrections Ombudsman — (804) 251-1778
• Governor’s Office — (804) 786-2211

Facility — River North (Warden Kevin McCoy)
• Desk (direct): (276) 773-2518
• Cell (work): (434) 569-5336 Use respectfully; business hours preferred.
Open: Hi, my name is [Name] in [City/ZIP]. Are you the authorized spokesperson to speak on the record? If not, please connect me with the PIO or the watch commander. What I’m calling about: The Sept 8 fires in C-2 at River North (around 10:30am and 3:30pm), the reported attempt on Sept 9, the 60-day lockdown, and the communications blackout. Specific questions (yes/no & details): 1) Can you confirm fires occurred in C-2 on Sept 8 at ~10:30am and ~3:30pm? What are the incident report or ICS numbers? 2) Is C-2 currently under a 60-day lockdown? What date/time did it start, and what is the end date? 3) Are phones/kiosks restricted for that pod or building? What policy/authority authorized the blackout and when will access be restored? 4) Was the State Fire Marshal notified? If so, when? If not, why not? 5) What medical and mental-health checks were provided to impacted people (smoke inhalation screening; MH follow-up)? 6) How is VADOC ensuring compliance with OP 861.1 (no collective punishment) in this response? My request: Please email me a written response by [date/time] and a point of contact for follow-up: [your email]. Voicemail version: (if you reach VM) Please return my call at [your number] and email [your email]. I will log this request publicly.

Etiquette: Be concise and respectful. No threats or harassment. Note date/time, name, title, and exact quotes. Add your notes to the report form below.

🏛️ Call Your Delegate & Senator

Constituents move needles. If you already sent the statewide ActionNetwork letter on OP 861.1, mention it at the top of your call. If not, you can send it here: Statewide letter ↗

🔎 Find your Virginia legislators: whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov

[Open] Hi, I’m [Name], a constituent in [City/ZIP]. I just sent the statewide ActionNetwork letter on ending collective punishment (OP 861.1). I’m calling about the Sept 8 fires in C-2 at River North, the reported attempt on Sept 9, the 60-day lockdown, and the communications blackout. [Asks] • Will you contact VADOC and OSIG for an on-the-record update (incident/ICS numbers, who authorized the blackout, and the planned end date for the lockdown) and share the response with me? • Will you request a public hearing on OP 861.1 compliance and support legislation to ban collective punishment, require notice before privilege/property confiscation, and mandate public reporting on lockdowns? • Will your office send a letter to VADOC leadership urging immediate restoration of communications and individualized, post-conviction discipline? [Follow-up] Please email me by [date] with the steps you’ll take. My email is [your email]. Thank you.

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