Several inmates were injured Tuesday during a riot and fire at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo.

The disturbance began at 3:45 p.m. after inmates set fire to one of the housing wings and barricaded the doors. The incident apparently was triggered by a brawl whose cause was under investigation, police said.

Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said that by 5:30 p.m. the situation was contained, with emergency response teams of correctional officers from HCCC and Kulani Correctional Facility using “nonlethal means to subdue inmates, gain compliance and bring order back to the housing unit.”

Police said several inmates were hurt during the affray, and some corrections officers suffered smoke inhalation and respiratory issues from the fire. No major injuries were reported, police said.

Inmates were evacuated from the facility so the damage could be assessed, police said. Police assisted state corrections officers in establishing a perimeter around the facility, shutting down Waianuenue Avenue and parts of Komohana Street while state authorities investigated the incident.

Also responding to the riot were two Hawaii Fire Department station units and state sheriffs.

Schwartz said the 25 inmates in the A-wing housing “will all be questioned to determine what prompted the unrest and who was directly involved. Inmates found culpable will be criminally and administratively charged.”

The department’s Institutions Division administrator was dispatched to Hilo to assess the situation, Schwartz said. Damage to the housing unit was being tallied, and inmates and correctional staff were undergoing medical evaluations.

“All the credit goes to the HCCC warden and his staff for acting swiftly to mobilize their emergency response team and to bring order back to the facility,” said Maria Cook, deputy director for administration, in a news release. “We would also like to acknowledge the Kulani warden and her staff, as well as the State Sheriffs, Hawaii Fire Department and Hawaii Police Department for their assistance.”

As of Monday the jail housed 290 inmates, even though it was designed to hold just 206. The 128% occupancy rate makes it the state’s most crowded prison or jail, according to DPS data.

On Sept. 1 inmates at a module at the Maui Community Correctional Center in Wailuku refused to go back to their cells. The department said staff activated emergency response teams to deescalate the situation.

Overcrowding and other complaints sparked a riot at the Maui jail in March 2019. That episode involved 42 inmates and lasted 3-1/2 hours, according to DPS. Inmates broke fire sprinklers, cell doors, windows and fixtures and started a fire in the common areas, causing more than $5 million in damage.