Stanislas StantchevBURLINGTON, Vt. -
Officials say a University of Vermont student was drunk and under the influence of muscle relaxers when he allegedly started a fire inside a dorm.
Twenty-two year old Stanislas Stantchev is charged with arson. He allegedly set the blaze in the hallway on the third floor of Wills Hall early Saturday morning where he lived. Stantchev reportedly told investigators he doused a pile of trash with rubbing alcohol, then used a dollar bill to start the fire. The blaze was extinguished by the time firefighters arrived -- before it got out of control.
"A fire burning in a hallway next to wall and other things, it certainly had the potential. And it's an active residence hall, 123 people live in that building," said UVM Police Chief Lianne Tuomey.
Police say Stantchev quickly became a suspect after asking a police officer arriving on scene, if they had determined who started the fire, even though investigators had not yet ruled it arson.
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