MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Five students from West Virginia University have been charged in setting some of the 29 fires that burned in the area after the university’s final exams ended. A week earlier, 22 fires were set to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden.
Eric T. Bailey, Matthew Isakowr, Michael Rutland, Emily Foster and Gage Swartz were charged in connection to the fires that started after finals, the New York Daily News reports. Benjamin Trujillo, Rebecca Urbanski and Kathryn Sullivan-Buterbaugh were charged in starting the fires set after bin Laden’s death.
One person was injured by the fires. According to police, he poured two gallons of gasoline into a dumpster and set it alight; the resulting explosion knocked him back and caused first degree burns to his face.
This year, Morgantown has had at least 93 fires. If the practice of setting random fires continues at the same pace, the city will hold the record for the most intentional fires ever set in a one year period.
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