Dedicated to the investigation, an FBI agent collected convictions in a cold case using cell phone tower data.
FBI Special Agent William Kurtz said the arson case was one of his first after graduating from the FBI Training Academy. He was determined to get answers for the first responder who lost his life fighting the fire.
Columbia/Adair County Assistant Fire Chief Charles Sparks suffered a fatal heart attack minutes after battling the blaze in June of 2011. He was an experienced first responder as leader of two departments, a fire marshal and medic.
"He was always willing to help anybody and always did a great job," a colleague said.
Sparks and his coworkers were called to the fire in the early morning hours of June 30, 2011. They were able to control the fire.