STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

 

NEWS RELEASE

       

CASE#: 20A101200

RANK/TROOPER FULL NAME: Detective Sgt. Matthew Hill                             

STATION: A Troop Williston BCI                     

CONTACT#: 802-878-7111

 

DATE/TIME: February 21, 2020, at 1:00 AM

INCIDENT LOCATION: 5408 Plot Road Cambridge, VT

VIOLATIONS:

1^st Degree Arson

False Swearing

False Information to Police (Implicate another)

 

ACCUSED: Ciana Allen                                               

AGE: 25

CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Hyde Park, VT

 

VICTIM: John and Kim Tilton

CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Cambridge, VT

 

SUMMARY OF INCIDENT:

On February 21, 2020, at approximately 1:04 AM the Cambridge Fire Department responded to 5408 Plot Road in Cambridge for a reported structure fire.  When firefighters arrived they found the maple sager house fully engulfed in flames.  Fire crews suppressed the flames after fighting the fire for more than two hours in sub-zero temperatures. The sugar house and its contents were a total loss valued at more than $50,000. The fire was initially classified as undetermined but possibly caused by an electric heater. 

 

On March 9, 2020,  the Vermont State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit received information that the fire had been intentionally set, and detectives began an investigation into the origin and cause of the fire event.  The subsequent investigation has led to the arrest of 25 year old Ciana Allen of Hyde Park, Vermont. Investigators learned Allen had been drinking on the night of the fire and was upset at a former boyfriend, whose family owns a sugar house on Plot Road.  Investigators believe Allen intended to set a fire at this sugarhouse but instead set the blaze at another nearby sugarhouse, owned by the victims in this case. Allen also accused another person of being responsible for setting the fire while being interviewed.   

 

Allen was cited to appear in Lamoille County Superior Court – Criminal Division on September 16, 2020 at 12:30 PM

 

COURT ACTION: Y

COURT DATE/TIME: September 16, 2020 at 12:30 PM            

COURT: Lamoille County

LODGED - LOCATION: N/A     

BAIL: N/A

MUG SHOT: Y

 

 

 

 

*Please note:  court date and time are subject to change at the discretion of

the court. Please call the criminal court clerk to confirm arraignment time.

 

 

Detective Sergeant Matthew Hill

Department of Public Safety

Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit

Vermont State Police, Troop A-West

2777 St George Road

Williston, VT 05495

Office 802-878-7111 ext 2021

Matthew.Hill@vermont.gov

 

To request a copy of a fire report:

https://secure.vermont.gov/DPS/publicrecords/order.php