Ex-firefighter gets 2 years for role in setting fire at library

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - A former Havre de Grace firefighter received a two-year prison sentence Tuesday for conspiring with a juvenile to firebomb the local public library so he could fight the fire.

Daniel W. Ramsey Jr., 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree arson in the August 22, 2007, fire at Havre De Grace Public Library, where a Molotov cocktail was hurled through a window in the early-morning hours.

Circuit Judge Angela Eaves sentenced Ramsey, a probationary member of the Susquehanna Hose Co., to 10 years in prison with all but two suspended.

“We’re relieved there’s closure,” said Susquehanna Hose Co. Chief Scott Hurst. “Now we can officially begin the process of terminating him from the fire company.”

Ramsey had been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the case.

Vernon Gentile, an assistant state’s attorney, said the juvenile, whose name was not disclosed because of his age, is the brother of another volunteer at the firehouse.

Evidence indicated that the Molotov was made at the station on Union Avenue, Hurst said.

 Damage to the library was estimated at about $17,800 by the State Fire Marshal’s Office, and was limited mostly to the carpet and a few tables and chairs in the children’s section.

 Eaves ordered Ramsey and the juvenile to pay $18,500 in restitution. How that amount is split will be up to the defendants, Gentile said.

“In an ideal world, they’d each pay half, but if one is unable to come up with his share, the other is responsible for it,” he said.

In exchange for Ramsey’s guilty plea, charges of second-degree arson, manufacturing a destructive device, reckless endangerment, malicious destruction of property and contributing to the delinquency of a minor were dropped.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com