Two inmates died and two were injured in the Puerto Vallarta prison fire, raising questions about safety, oversight and working conditions.
Two inmates died, and two others were injured after an explosion and fire inside the regional prison on the outskirts of Puerto Vallarta in the early hours of Friday, 28 November 2025.
State security authorities reported that the incident began in the recycling workshop of the Centro Integral de Justicia Regional (Ceinjure) Costa Norte, the state prison complex located at kilometre 6.5 of the Las Palmas highway in the Ixtapa delegation. In that area, people deprived of liberty work in shifts separating plastic waste, and it was during a night shift that an explosion triggered a fire that spread across roughly a forty-by-forty-meter section of the shop floor.
Custody staff immediately called 911 and activated the prison’s internal Civil Protection brigade. Medical services, Civil Protection teams and municipal firefighters arrived and focused on controlling the flames inside the recycling area. The fire extended into an adjacent carpentry workshop, but the internal brigade managed to contain and extinguish the flames there before they reached other parts of the prison.
While emergency crews battled the blaze, State Penitentiary Police evacuated the people deprived of liberty who were working in the workshop area on the night shift. Two inmates were treated in the medical area for what officials described as minor burns that did not require transfer to an outside hospital. After firefighters fully controlled the fire and smoke, responders re-entered the origin point of the blast and found two inmates dead in the section where the explosion had occurred.
Puerto Vallarta prison fire
Authorities have not yet released the identities of the deceased inmates, and there is still no official cause for the explosion. The case has been turned over to the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office and specialists from the state’s Institute of Forensic Sciences, who are responsible for documenting the scene, collecting evidence and determining what started the blast inside the recycling workshop.
The workshop where the fire began is one of several spaces where inmates carry out work and training activities inside the Puerto Vallarta prison. According to state records, the recycling area has been used for years to separate plastics as part of labour programmes intended to support social reintegration and generate income for people serving sentences. Other areas in the same complex host carpentry work, classroom activities and cultural events that form part of the official schedule for people deprived of liberty in the region.
The Ceinjure Costa Norte complex serves as the main state prison for Puerto Vallarta and neighbouring municipalities on Jalisco’s coast. Official documents describe it as a regional centre that has hosted new educational projects, including a high school-level programme for inmates and workplace health certifications for staff. Human rights bodies have also documented concerns over conditions and treatment in the same prison in previous years, issuing recommendations on issues such as visitor searches and the way security measures are applied to people held there and to their families.
State authorities report that, following the fire, protocols were activated to notify and support the families of the two men who died, and to monitor the health of the two inmates who were injured. Inside the facility, the affected workshop area remains under the control of investigators, who must establish whether the explosion was linked to materials, equipment, or some other factor present during the night shift.
Safety and oversight at Ceinjure
Security around the Ceinjure Costa Norte complex has been reinforced since the fire. The prison’s regular custodial staff now have additional support from the Mexican Army, the Navy and the National Guard, which were called in under emergency protocols for critical incidents inside state prisons. Their presence is intended to prevent disturbances while forensic work continues and the authorities rule out any broader risk to the rest of the prison population.
The explosion and fire came days after the same Puerto Vallarta prison drew attention because an inmate escaped custody. This incident led to the detention of four penitentiary police officers while investigators examine possible negligence or complicity. That earlier case brought the prison’s operations under closer scrutiny from state authorities and families with relatives inside the facility.
Taken together, the recent escape and the fatal fire show how a facility that officially presents itself as a regional hub for justice and rehabilitation can still face serious security and safety incidents. For now, the focus remains on confirming the identities of the two inmates who died, informing their relatives and determining whether any criminal responsibility will arise from the explosion and fire inside the Puerto Vallarta prison.
