Convict, female prisoner, helping to cause a raging fire (13)
I believe the answer is:
conflagration
'raging fire' is the definition.
'convict female prisoner helping' is the wordplay.
'convict' becomes 'con' (abbreviation e.g. 'ex-con').
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'prisoner' becomes 'lag' (I've seen this before).
'helping' becomes 'ration' (I've seen this before).
'con'+'f'+'lag'+'ration'='CONFLAGRATION'
'to cause a' is the link.
(Other definitions for conflagration that I've seen before include "Inferno" , "Big blaze" , "result of arson" , "Great fire" , "terrible blaze" .)