Classes have been cancelled today for some Camosun College students studying at the school’s Interurban campus, following multiple arson fires and vandalism over the weekend.
Any students or staff with classes at PISE, Centre for Business/Access, and the Trades Centre should check with the school for updated information as those buildings will be closed, locked and inaccessible with all classes being cancelled for Monday, Nov. 26. The Helmut Huber annex also suffered minimal damage and will be operational.
READ MORE: Man arrested by Saanich Police following fire at Camosun College
School officials say the closures are mostly due to water and smoke damage from the sprinkler system, which properly initiated when the fires were first detected between 2-3 a.m. Sunday morning.
#Camosun Update: These Interurban campus buildings will be closed & classes cancelled tomorrow (Monday Nov. 26) in: PISE, CBA (Centre for Business/Access) & Trades Centre (CTEI). All other buildings open & classes on. Students & staff check https://t.co/i4sVHql65w for updates.
— Camosun College (@Camosun) November 26, 2018
No students or staff will be allowed into those buildings until remediation is completed, which could be as short as 24 hours, according to Joan Yates, Vice President of Student Experience.
The campus will remain open and other classes will still go ahead as scheduled.
Saanich Police arrested a 30-year-old Victoria man at the scene of the second fire with help from a canine unit. He was found in the college’s Centre for Business/Access.
That person remains in custody and the Saanich Fire Department said it’s “highly likely” the man arrested is connected to two (and possibly more) fires on or near the Interurban campus.
Robert Bettauer, chief executive officer of PISE, told the Saanich News that police were familiar with the individual. “What I heard is that he was known to them, and obviously disturbed, not much doubt about that,” he said.
