Individual counselling services have been made available, as well as a series of traumatic event support sessions

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The halls of Langara College’s main campus are busy again following Monday’s fire and evacuation, but it’s not quite business as usual.

Students are resuming final exams and presentations knowing that just two days earlier, a series of homemade incendiary devices were planted in the Science and Technology building, drawing out scores of heavily-armed police, and forcing a campus-wide evacuation.

Individual counselling services have been made available, and a series of traumatic event support sessions are taking place in the Student Union building to help students and staff come to grips with what happened.

“I want to reassure you that our campus is safe,” writes Langara College President Lane Trotter in a campus-wide email. “Let’s continue to take care of each other in the days going forward.”

Isaac Lee and Rebecca Stuber tried to do their part by serving up free waffles to stressed-out students near the campus security office.

With the stress of finals, plus everything that happened on Monday, Isaac Lee and Rebecca Stuber are cooking up free waffles for students at @langaracollege. Get ‘em while they’re hot @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/VoOrpLhSWb — Kurtis Doering (@KDnewsguy) April 3, 2019

“Because it’s the last week of classes,” Stuber explains, “and it’s been an exceptionally hard week of classes because of the things that have gone down.”

Lee, a student in the Studio 58 program, says he doesn’t plan on taking advantage of the school’s additional counselling supports.

“Frankly, it was more of a blip for me with finals… no one getting hurt I think helped,” he explains. “Like, ‘all right, I just got to focus on finals. I don’t want to put to much thought into this.'”

Shortly after the devices went off Monday morning, Transit Police in Surrey arrested the lone suspect: 23-year-old Nasradin Abdusamad Ali, a student at Langara. Ali is charged with arson and possession of incendiary material. Police are still investigating a motive.

“It’s upsetting that somebody in our school would do something like that,” says student Shelby Stead, who was seated not far from a trauma discussion circle.

“It just feels weird that you’re here and there’s devices all over the school. It’s just, it’s weird.”

The building where the devices went off is closed until further notice, and classes there have been moved online. Staff wearing hard hats and reflective vests have been assessing and repairing the damaged areas.