KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A man who admitted to setting fires in the Kalamazoo area last summer has pleaded guilty to several counts of arson, court records show.
On May 2, George Stanard pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree arson and one count of third-degree arson. Other counts were dismissed, according to court records.
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When he was charged with arson in September, Stanard appeared over video linkup. He cried and rocked back and forth as he listened to the judge read the charges for allegedly starting eight fires. The charges stemmed from fires that dated back to the time period of June 11 through Sept. 3.
A firefighter was hurt at one of the fires on June 12, and another two firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion at a fire on Aug. 24. The June 11 fire spread to additional buildings and several people were displaced from their homes.
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Stanard admitted to police that some of the fires started because he lit papers and bits of garbage, and once a cigarette pack, on fire and panicked when the buildings caught fire. Once he said he was “making a homemade flame thrower” near an abandoned building when it caught fire, he said…