By james art PHOENIX (AZ Family) — Two small fires in a Grand Canyon University apartment building left more than 20 students homeless.
Police say firefighters responded to the scene just after 9:20 a.m. Sunday.
GCU emailed students that the reported crime was arson and the suspect(s) were unknown.
Officials say they are still investigating, but the scene indicates the fires may have been set.
“I’m not going to lie, like there’s a fire alarm every week. Every week,” said student Elias Murrell.
“I thought the day was going to be normal, like someone didn’t know how to cook,” said Logan Martinez, another student.
Students told Arizona Family that cooking accidents often set off fire alarms in campus dormitories and apartments.
“It was kind of surprising, I’m not going to lie. I mean, college students do stupid things all the time, but arson is never okay. Especially something serious like this,” Murrell said.
Police said that although the fire was quickly extinguished, the real damage was caused by the sprinkler system.
Martinez is one of the students staying at Agave Apartments who was forced to evacuate and relocate.
“I like to feel safe in my own room, and right now that’s not the case. They don’t even know who it is,” Martinez said.
GCU said all students were evacuated from the building, and those whose rooms were not affected were allowed to return later that day.
However, GCU added that six apartments, each with four bedrooms, sustained water damage as crews put out the fires.
Consequently, about 24 students had to be moved to other rooms on campus.
Martinez said it’s a stressful situation with interim deadlines and deadlines for other projects.
He said he is now in a room with three other men and has no idea when he can return to his apartment.
Martinez said the school gave him a $3 laundry voucher.
“I’m just trying to keep up with my studies, but it’s hard,” he said.
He hopes the school will improve student accommodation in these cases if it happens again.
Most importantly, Martinez and other students want the case resolved soon.
“I hope the university keeps us safe, finds people, finds the suspect (and) gets him out of here, honestly,” he said.
Several other students told the Arizona family that GCU has a good protocol for offering transparency and communicating with students during emergencies.
Phoenix police said the Phoenix Fire Department’s Arson Investigation Task Force responded to take over the investigation. They are working with GCU Police and GCU administrators regarding the investigation.
No arrests have been made.
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