Prison guards hospitalised after Bandyup fire

SEVERAL guards at Bandyup women’s prison in Perth have suffered smoke inhalation after an inmate set fire to a mattress then allegedly became aggressive.

Firefighters, police and paramedics were called to the West Swan facility just after midday, but a Department of Justice spokeswoman said prison officers had already extinguished the blaze.

A spokeswoman for the WA Prison Officers Union said the inmate attacked guards when they went to the cell to respond to the fire, so they retreated but returned to remove her for her own safety.

The officers are being treated in hospital and no prisoners have been injured.

“It just goes to show officers risk their own lives to try to save a prisoner,” she told AAP.