Hunt for Ramsay ‘sausage arsonist’ after ‘malicious’ fire

Ramsay Hall is rife with speculation after a sixth fire alarm this term was put down to foul play.

Roughly 500 students were awoken at 5.10am after an attempt at arson by a suspected halls resident resulted in the evacuation of the Maple Street residence for over an hour.

The fire was caused by a meat product, purported to be sausages or steak, being placed on the stoves of three kitchens located on the first floor of New York block.

The Camden Fire Brigade reported that the fire-retardant doors were intentionally left propped open and fire blankets hidden, which confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt the incident was pre-meditated and therefore a criminal offence.

One of the kitchens in questions after a thorough scrubbing.

New York 1 residents were briefly separated from fellow students as wardens searched for the culprit. With smoke billowing down the corridor in question and hundreds of residents concentrated Whitfield Street, any hopes of finding the ‘sausage arsonist’ immediately were quickly abandoned.

On Monday afternoon, the warden of Ramsay Hall emailed residents asking for anyone with information to come forward.

He wrote: “As you are no doubt aware, the hall has recently suffered an unacceptable number of fire alarm activations.

“A number of the recent activations, including the one this morning, were caused maliciously (this morning someone left some meat on a hot hob in a kitchen).

“Unnecessary fire activations caused by errors or mistakes are bad enough, when someone is setting off the alarm intentionally (in the full knowledge that 500 residents and the Fire Brigade will be inconvenienced) it is utterly unacceptable and also a criminal offence.”

If found guilty, it is likely the suspect will be expelled from the university and subject to a criminal charge. 

The warden’s email also highlighted the number of students who opted against leaving the hall to begin with.

Hundreds of lightly clad students were left in the cold for over an hour.

More to follow.