A 19-year-old Grand Canyon University (GCU) student was arrested after allegedly causing two fires in the Agave Apartments on campus, evacuating students and causing heavy damage to property. Jacob Jarvis is charged with two counts of arson of an occupied structure following the incidents Sunday morning.
For an unknown reason, someone deliberately set their shared hallway couch on fire in an apartment building near 31st and Missouri Avenues. Flames presented crews from the Phoenix Fire Department-who arrived just before 9:30 a.m. with a burning couch in the common hallway, next to a fire escape door.
Investigators quickly determined the flames had been intentionally started. During the investigation, they also established that at almost the same time, somebody had set ablaze the door of an apartment in the adjacent building by lighting paper flyers glued to it.
According to the court records, residents living within the apartment in which the fires erupted reportedly had noticed smoke, opened the door, and seemingly caught Jarvis entering another adjacent unit. Jarvis reportedly told the investigators later that he lit the fires on the couch and on the door, filled with his papers, using his roommate’s lighter. According to him, he left the lighter in a can when he extinguished the flames.
Jarvis, as quoted by authorities, said he was “stressed out and not feeling well” at the time of the incident. Although the fires were quickly contained, damage from the building’s sprinkler system has been estimated to be around $50,000, with about 20 students having to be temporarily displaced. Thankfully, no one was injured.
Jarvis was actually booked into jail after the event while officials continue investigations into the circumstances of the event.
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