FARMINGTON – An inmate accused of escaping from the Franklin County jail last summer was segregated Thursday after pushing a guard and starting a fire in his cell, Sheriff Dennis Pike said.

Corrections officer Rebecca Millay was pushed into a doorjamb while trying to break up a confrontation between inmate Daniel Jackson, 25, and another prisoner, he said. Apparently, Millay stepped between the two and was aggressively pushed away, although he said he had not yet viewed the security tapes.

The officer, who did manage to restrain Jackson, will undergo infectious disease testing because skin was broken. Pike said. The officer is probably sore today but not seriously injured, he said.

After the confrontation, Jackson was taken to a single cell, where he started a fire, Pike said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office, while the Sheriff’s Department is investigating whether the corrections officer was assaulted.

No charges have been filed against Jackson or the other inmate, whom Pike did not name.

As to the fire, Pike said, there’s not much that can burn in a cell other than personal items and library material.

Staff put the fire out, Assistant Jail Administrator Carl Stinchfield said.

Stinchfield said he has not entered the cell to see the extent of damage because it has been locked up pending examination by the fire marshal.

Jackson, formerly of Jay and Wilton, was indicted by a grand jury in November 2006 on charges of kidnapping, escape, two counts of terrorizing and assault.

Jackson has been in the corrections center since July 2006 on charges of being a fugitive from justice stemming from an escape from a New York police station, and terrorizing in connection with an incident in which a gun was fired in July inside an apartment in Wilton.

Jackson was also accused of escaping from the corrections center for 12 hours by climbing the razor-topped fence in the recreation yard Aug. 13.

With a history of mental illness, he was also accused of threatening to kill a Jay woman if she did not drive him to a specific place after his escape from the jail. He was also accused of terrorizing a Jay man if he didn’t help him, as well.

The assault charge stems from an incident Aug. 4 with another inmate at the jail.