Governors Complex kitchens reopened on Monday after a weeks-long closure following an arson attempt on Oct. 15.
Around 4 a.m. that day, resident advisors evacuated residents from the building due to a suspected gas leak. Students were sent to the Natural Sciences Complex to wait until all clear was called around 5 a.m.
“Campus Living staff discovered that an unknown person had attempted to start a fire on the stove in the third floor kitchen,” an email sent to residents by Campus Living read. “The staff member was able to turn off the stove before the items left on the stove caught fire, but the resulting haze did activate the building fire alarm.”
The following week, kitchens throughout the Governors Complex were closed for investigation. Students who needed a kitchen for emergency use could contact their RA.
University Police investigators interviewed witnesses and spoke to a person of interest, but “after close consultation with the ATF and New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations, we were not able to develop probable cause to arrest this person,” UPD Deputy Chief Joshua Sticht wrote in an email to The Spectrum.
Sticht thanked Governors Complex residents for their patience and cooperation with the investigation.
Students say they are happy to have the kitchens back.
“It was an inconvenience. It definitely eroded into some of my daily schedule because I depended on those communal spaces for cooking and cleaning my dishes,” first-year exercise science student Dan Aguilar said. “Now, I don’t have to walk 5,000 miles to wash my dishes or cook something that I want to cook.”
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. His work has featured on other platforms such as Medium and Last Word on Sports. Outside of the newspaper, he enjoys running and watching sports (when he’s not writing about them).
Sarah Owusu is an assistant news editor at The Spectrum. In her free time she enjoys reading, baking, music and talking politics (yes, shockingly). She'll also be her own hairdresser when she needs a change.
