At Joliet prison, desperate men set themselves on fire

Around 10 p.m., a haze of gray smoke wafted down a hallway lined with prison cells at the Joliet Treatment Center. The window of cell A9 began to glow red as the fire within grew. Jason Stephens was locked inside. Minutes ticked by, and the smoke became so thick you could not see more than a few feet. No one came to let Stephens out. There have been more than 70 fires at the facility in the last three years, according to an investigation by The Marshall Project, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times.…