GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A man accused of arson admitted to investigators that he started several fires around Kalamazoo in recent months, police reports show, generally by using his lighter to set small pieces of paper, cardboard or trash on fire.
George Stanard, 32, was charged earlier this month with eight counts of arson in the fires, most of which were at vacant buildings dating back to June 11.
Man sobs as he is charged with arson in Kalamazoo fires
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety police reports obtained by News 8 show Stanard was interviewed by investigators after his arrest on Sept. 5. They say he first admitted that he witnessed two of the fires and that he called called 911 to report the one a vacant commercial building on Water Street downtown on Sept. 3. He initially denied setting any fires.
“I told Stanard that I did not believe that he did not start many of the fires in the abandoned buildings,” an investigator wrote in the reports. “I explained that he has been captured on video surveillance on several scenes, and that of these fire investigations, the manner in which the fire started and that location in which the fire started were all the same. I told him I did not believe it was a coincidence that his presence was captured in the scene of these fire investigations if he didn’t start the fires.”
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A fire on E. Water Street in downtown Kalamazoo on Sept. 3, 2024. (Courtesy KDPS) -
Crews fight a fire on E. Water Street in downtown Kalamazoo on Sept. 3, 2024. (Courtesy KDPS) -
Crews fight a fire on E. Water Street in downtown Kalamazoo on Sept. 3, 2024. (Courtesy KDPS) -
The aftermath of a fire on E. Water Street in downtown Kalamazoo on Sept. 3, 2024. (Courtesy KDPS)
A geographic outlier in the fires sparked in the early hours of Sept. 2 at a recycling center on Kilgore Road west of the airport. When told police had video of him starting the fire, the reports show, Stanard admitted to using his lighter to set cardboard on fire…