The Bookstore roped off its lower level after temporarily closing on Monday.

Accounts ranging from a burning pillow to a flood in the children’s section were cited as possible causes. Spokespeople for the Yale Police Department and the Yale Bookstore could not be reached for comment on Monday night, and store employees did not confirm the cause of the incident.

A photo shared on the “Overheard at Yale” Facebook group on Monday evening depicted a Yale Security officer blocking the entrance to the store.

A Yale Police officer on-duty in the area on Monday evening said that, though firetrucks were dispatched to the store in the afternoon, it reopened with caution tape blocking the stairs to lower level in the evening. Still, customers were prohibited from entering blocked section, which houses such products as cosmetics, technological equipment, textbooks and foreign language materials.

“I wasn’t there at the exact time they were closing things, but when I went to buy a calculator at 6:30, I was told I would not be able to,” visiting international program student Diego Rodriguez said. “They said it is something they can fix for tomorrow, so [it] must not be something serious.”

Sweyn Venderbush ’18, who posted a photo of the scene to the “Overheard at Yale” page, said three people stood guard in front of the store when he tried to enter.

On Mondays, the store is open from 10 a.m. through 9 p.m.

LARRY MILSTEIN