Fires lit in cells of Risdon Prison in Hobart, Tasmania, where killer Martin Bryant is held

Fire, police and ambulance crews have rushed to Risdon Prison on Hobart’s eastern shore after fires were lit in two cells.

Tasmania Police said in a statement on Wednesday night that the prison was contained during an ‘unfolding incident’ and police remained on the scene patrolling the perimeter as a precaution.

Emergency crews were sent to the prison around 7.30pm.

Emergency services were called the Risdon Prison, Hobart (pictured) at around 7.30pm

Acting Director of Prisons David Jackson said in a statement that fires had been lit in two cells but were quickly put out by prison staff.

‘There was no risk to the community. No one was injured as a result of the incident,’ he said.

A number of prisoners were relocated within the jail following the incident.

‘An internal investigation has begun and the perpetrators will face disciplinary action,’ Mr Jackson said.

Martin Bryant is the prison’s most famous inmate and is responsible for Australia’s largest mass shooting, the Port Arthur Massacre.

In 1996, Bryant, 28 at the time, entered a café at the site of a historic penal colony at Port Arthur, Tasmania where he had lunch before embarking on a merciless killing spree.

By the time he was caught the next morning he had killed 35 people and injured another 23 making him Australia’s worst mass murderer.

He was sentenced to 35 life sentences and was later assessed and found to have the IQ of an 11-year-old. 

In the wake of the shooting the Australian government introduced the National Firearms Agreement which outlawed all automatic, semi-automatic rifles and pump action shotguns.

The prison holds Martin Bryant, Australia’s worst mass murderer who was responsible for the Port Arthur Massacre