Fire interrupted the lives of Regent’s Park students on Sunday evening as a fresher’s dinner plans turned sour. Lucy Clarke, a first year studying History and English, was cooking in one of the student kitchens and accidentally caused a series of potentially deadly incidents.
At first she burnt her dinner mildly, setting off the fire alarm in the process. Students were evacuated from the building and waited outside whilst University Services investigated and the alarm was reset.
Once given the all clear, the students returned inside and Clarke went back to the kitchen in an attempt to salvage the remains of her dinner. Whilst trying to prepare another meal, she unwittingly knocked a pack of butter wrapped in wax paper on to a still-hot hob. Unaware of the error, Clarke was talking to a friend when the butter went up in flames; they both turned around but the kitchen was quickly engulfed in thick black smoke before they could do anything to put the fire out. The smoke eventually spread to other rooms and students were forced outside once again.
Speaking of the incident, Clarke said, “‘Towering Inferno’ were the only words my mind could provide other than ‘Oh sweet Lord, what have I done now?’”
Fortunately, University Services were already on hand, having arrived to deal with the first incident just before. Students were once again evacuated on hearing the alarm and University Services successfully extinguished the fire before it spread beyond the kitcken.
The hob and the surrounding area were destroyed but the damage was limited to the kitchen. Clarke has been asked to pay damages to the college in order to repair the affected areas but has received no other punitive sanctions. Clarke stressed that the college have been very understanding and sympathetic, as were her fellow Regent’s students who were forced out into the cold twice. Clarke was also pleasantly surprised with the conviviality of University Services given the situation, saying, “I would have thought anyone would get upset with the sort of idiocy I displayed, but they were really kind and sympathetic!”
Regent’s JCR President, Harrison Denner, downplayed the drama of the event, insisting, “The whole thing did not last very long.”
