Fire marshal's spokesman Ken Meredith said Sunday morning's fire appeared to have been set deliberately.
University spokesman Bob Skipper said a female student was hospitalized with burns and other wounds at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., about 60 miles south of Bowling Green.
Skipper said authorities were looking at everything, including whether Sunday's early morning blaze was set accidentally by the victim. No arrests had been made as of Sunday night.
``She did have some puncture wounds, but they appear to be superficial,'' Skipper said. He said he did not have more information about the wounds, which Meredith had earlier described as stab wounds.
``I'd like to know what happened,'' said Davora Lamirande, who was forced out of her room early Sunday. ``I haven't heard anything.''
The blaze unnerved some of the 300 students who were displaced by the fire but allowed to return to their rooms within the same night. Final exams were scheduled for Monday.
``I wasn't (scared) at first, but that was before I heard she was stabbed,'' said Lauren Young, who lives in the dorm, where the fire started. ``When you hear that, that's kind of scary.''
A police officer will be stationed in the lobby of Hugh Poland Hall at night for the next week, and two residence hall workers would be on duty overnight, Skipper said. ``We're trying to improve the comfort level for the students who are staying,'' Skipper said.
University and police officials would not release the name of the injured student, but students and family members identified her as Katie Autry, and an online university directory listed a Melissa K. Autry as living in Hugh Poland Hall room 214, the room where the fire occurred.
Authorities would say little about the investigation and remained on the scene Sunday night, long after the 4 a.m. fire. A Kentucky State Police arson investigator was sent, but state police said university police were in charge of the investigation.
Fire damage was limited to the injured student's room, Skipper said. Other rooms on the first two floors received water damage, he said.
Some of the 50 students in the coed dormitory said they saw the injured student being carried out by two firefighters.
``It wasn't fun'' seeing her carried out, Lexington freshman Andrea Pendleton said. ``I don't want to see that ever again. It was so horrible. My stomach is still sick from that.''
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