NOVEMBER 1, 2006
The call came in at 2:08 p.m.
Many of the 1,000 students at Eastern Guilford High School were in the 4th lunch period.
McLeansville firefighter Kirby Shepherd got there first.
"I’ve seen more smoke coming out of a chimney than what was coming out of the school that day. But it’s where it was coming out of the building that had me concerned and the color of the smoke," Shepherd said.
What Shepherd and the entire Triad didn't know was a small fire set by someone in the school’s chemistry lab would eventually become the largest arson case we've witnessed in our lifetime.
Room 221 changed everything.
Over the course of the next 51 hours wiped away the original Eastern Guilford, stunned an entire community and still burns today. The arsonist behind the crime has yet to be punished.
2 Wants to Know and WFMY News 2 Evening Anchor Frank Mickens spent weeks on the most detailed investigation you will find anywhere.
What we uncovered sheds more light than ever on the events that burned down an entire school and provides more information than ever before about the person of interest.
Investigators say that same person of interest currently works as a firefighter in the Triad.
THE FIRE
"As soon as I hit the top of the stairwell there was just a strong smell, to me kind of like a chemical smell. To me it was a sickening smell."
Debbie Dowd had to investigate.
"I went back up to check and went around, pulled open the door and across the back of the room were flames," Dowd said.
"It really scared me to the point it was almost disabling."
Dowd tried to scream for a teacher down the hall on the second floor.
"I tried to holler out for him because I knew he was just a few feet away. I don’t think I took more than one step in. I hollered for him the best I could. But I think it was a weak holler. It was like somebody had your throat."
Science teacher Tim Riggs found himself thrust into an emergency no one would be prepared for.
"The flames were unreal at that end of the room. I couldn’t get any closer because of the heat. And I remember looking down at the fire extinguisher and looking up at the flames and I did that a couple times. And then I said there is no way you know."
McLeansville firefighters Chris Wells and Kirby Shepherd were among the first to get there to put out the fire. Or so they thought.
"We thought ok, this is just a regular call," said Shepherd.
But when Wells went inside, what he found was anything but a regular call.
"And I have never been in a fire where the conditions they deteriorated that rapid," Wells said.
"So I hit the door. And I said hey guys, we’ve got to go and we’ve got to go now. Because I looked up and the fire was above us."
Many firefighters now believe the flames had been burning for 20-30 minutes before the first crew got to the school. The flames climbed the walls of Room 221 and reached an area above the ceiling.
The air system pulled the flames across the ceiling above everyone's heads and kept growing and growing out of control.
Former McLeansville Fire Chief Donny Shepherd commanded a force of more than 100 firefighters that day.
"It kind of makes me ill that on my watch we couldn't put it out even with all the help we had," Shepherd said looking down at bricks he saved from the building.
"I guess it's like a death in the family. You don't want to lose it. But it's gone."
The good thing about the fire spreading out of view and above the ceiling was it allowed the 1,000 students and faculty to escape before the flames got into any classrooms or common areas.
But as it was burning above their heads, it was also burning the tar-covered roof of the building. And that tar created more fuel for the fire.
To this day, the teachers who saw it first consider it a miracle everyone made it out alive.
Riggs said, "My own daughter was only a few doors down the hall. My son was in the building."
Tearing up he went on to say, "A lot of people say that’s the worst day of our school. And I think it was the best day because we all got out."
THE PERSON OF INTEREST
But the most dramatic escape in this case involves whoever set this fire.
In a 2 Wants To Know exclusive, WFMY News 2 Evening Anchor Frank Mickens talked to the initial lead investigator.
For the first time, former Guilford County Fire Investigator Eddie Harris is giving details about the person of interest. And Harris says the person of interest currently works as a Triad firefighter. Harris was the lead investigator on the case for five years before he retired.
"When I talked with him it was fairly clear to me that I was on the right path," Harris said.
"I'm satisfied that individual is responsible."
HARRIS: "In my conversation with him, I tried to steer him toward let's talk about what you did, not the result of it. And he was very upset. He was shaking his head in the affirmative."
FRANK: "So he was doing this (nodding head up and down)."
HARRIS: "He's acknowledging what I felt was responsibility."
Harris says he interviewed the person of interest within a month of the fire.
HARRIS: "He was very upset. He was crying. And he just changed his mind. He just decided he didn't want to discuss this any further."
FRANK: "What did he say?"
HARRIS: "He said I've got to go and he got up and left."
FRANK: "Is that the moment you think you were closest to getting to the end of this case as far as finding who's responsible?"
HARRIS: "Yes. I felt we were minutes away from him telling me what happened and why it happened and getting it behind him."
FRANK: "So is he in the fire service?"
HARRIS: "That's what I understand."
Five years after Harris retired cold case detectives took over. Jim Church and Gary Hastings are retired investigators hired by the Guilford County Sheriff's Department to solve the arson as part-time cold case detectives.
FRANK: "When was the last time you interviewed the person you've identified?"
HASTINGS: "Never."
FRANK: "Excuse me?"
HASTINGS: "Never. He's never been interviewed."
FRANK: "How is that possible?"
HASTINGS: "Just hasn't been interviewed. Not by us. Not by the cold case team."
"In this particular case the person of interest did not want to talk to us. Refused," Hastings said matter-of-factly.
Attorney Joel Oakley says he denied detectives requests to talk to his client because he says an investigator "Already made up his mind."
Oakley went on to say it was "Not a fair investigation this time."
Oakley claims the person of interest cooperated with the initial investigation, passed a lie detector test and "There was nothing more he could do to prove his innocence."
FRANK: "Are you closer to making an arrest than, let's say, this time last year?"
HASTINGS: "I wouldn't say we were close to making an arrest."
THE YEARNING FOR JUSTICE
After all these years, no suspect has ever been named in this case. Cold case detectives told us there simply is not enough evidence for a conviction.
If you're not shocked yet, get this - whoever set that fire is more than likely to get away with it.
According to the FBI, only 22% of arson cases ever get solved.
Ironically, retired Guilford County Fire Investigator Eddie Harris says the rate in Guilford County has wavered between 50% and 67% the last 10 years.
And here's a shocker.
Harris says if the arsonist came forward 10 years ago, they likely would not have gone to prison and still might not spend a day in jail if he comes forward today.
And that upsets people who still feel burned.
Former McLeansville Fire Chief Donny Shepherd still wants the criminal caught.
"Every time I look at them bricks I'm thinking, you really done it," Shepherd said in disgust.
"You're the reason that we've got these bricks and these papers with all these pictures in it. Hopefully, I hope you can sleep at night that's all I can say."
Eastern faculty member Carol King led kids out of the building 10 years ago. Her daughter was a student who survived.
"I would have to ask them why," she said.
"And I think about this often, how do they live with themselves on a daily basis?"
Math teacher Craig Loring was two doors down from room 221.
"I think they need to man up," he said. "It seems the punishment should be increased per year. They have to live with themselves. I don't have to live with them."
Front office worker Becky Apple was the first to call 911 that day.
"It bothers me that they still haven't arrested somebody. That bothers me," said Apple.
FRANK: “Do you think you know who did it?”
APPLE: “I think I do.”
FRANK: “Do you ever talk to that person?”
APPLE: “No.
FRANK: “Would you like to talk to that person?”
APPLE: “No. Not about this."
The first firefighters on the scene didn't like to hear investigators believe the person of interest suits up as a Triad firefighter.
WELLS: “I've heard the name.”
SHEPHERD: “I've heard the name. Yeah, that kind of makes me mad."
WELLS: “They should question why they're actually doing the job.”
"Some days I really do want them to step up and say you know, I did that. And I'm sorry I did it. And this is the reason I did it," said Carol King.
Craig Loring said, “I don't think it'll happen. I mean if it hasn't happened up to this point."