JAY – A Wilton man was arrested early Tuesday after he was accused of starting a fire in a shed that did not belong to him and then leaving without putting it fully out.

Matthew Allen, 30, of Wilton, was charged with failure to control or report a dangerous fire and violation of conditions of release, police officer Russell Adams said.

The fire was reported about 2:30 a.m. on Randy Cousineau’s property off Route 4, near the Jay Transfer Station in North Jay.

About a dozen firefighters from the Jay Fire Rescue Department responded, fire Chief Scott Shink said, to put out the fire in the small outbuilding.

State fire investigators were called in to probe the matter.

Franklin County Sheriff’s Cpl. Nate Bean and his tracking dog, Diesel, did a 2.6-mile track to find a suspect.

Livermore Falls police officer Joe Sage had located Allen near LaFleur’s Restaurant in Jay before Bean and Diesel finished. The dog confirmed it was the same person that had been in the shed, Adams said.

Allen told police he had stayed at the building for a short time to rest and had started a small fire to stay warm, Adams said.

“Subsequently he left, and the fire wasn’t fully extinguished and subsequently the building burned,” Adams said.

It was destroyed, he said.

The case and charges will be reviewed by the Franklin County District Attorney’s staff, he said.

Allen was being held in the Franklin County jail pending a court appearance Wednesday.