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WORK.
>> Reporter: THE FLAMES LEADING
30, 40 FEET INTO THE AIR.
THIS WAS A FAST-MOVING GIANT OF
A FIRE.
>> THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN A FIRE
BURN THIS HOT, THIS FAST.
>> Reporter: HOW TO SLOW IT, LET
ALONE STOP IT WAS A MASSIVE
CHALLENGE.
>> EEVACUATIONS.
>> Reporter: BEFORE IT WAS OVER,
5,000 PLED FOR THEIR LIVES AND
ABOVE THEM DARK AND CHOKED
SKIES.
>> IT WAS A MUSHROOM CLOUD, WHAT
I WOULD IMAGINE FOR A BOMB.
>> Reporter: THE HEAT WAS SO
FIERCE, THE WALLS OF FLAMES SO
MASSIVE, EXHAUSTED FIREFIGHTERS
COULD NOT SURROUND THIS MONSTER.
>> THERE WAS JUST NO WAY TO
FIGHT IT.
THERE WAS JUST -- IT WASN'T
DOING ANYTHING, THE WATER AND
FIRE RETAR DENT WAS E VAN
RATING.
>> Reporter: 133 HOMES BURNED IN
AN AREA TEN TIMES THE SIZE OF
M
MACHINE HATTEN.
SUSPICIONS, AS IT TURNED OUT
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED HERE AT THE
HAYMAN FIRE WAS A HISTORY AND
LIKE ANY GOOD MYSTERY HAD CLUES,
FALSE LEADS, LIES AND
TANTALIZING PIECES OF A PUZZLE
AND HAD AN UNLIKELY HERO.
>> I'M SO NEW AND AT THE SAME
POINT IN TIME THIS WAS THE
BIGGEST FIRE IN COLORADO'S
HISTORY.
>> Reporter: SPECIAL AGENT KIM
JONES.
>> I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS A
CRIME.
WHEN I WENT THERE THAT FIRST DAY
I WAS TOLD IT WAS A ESCAPED
CAMPFIRE.
>> Reporter: SHE WAS A ROOKIE
INVESTIGATOR BUT A FORMER POLICE
DETECTIVE, SO MOMENTS AFTER SHE
ARRIVED JONES WAS CERTAIN THIS
WAS NO ORDINARY FIRE BUT A CRIME
SCENE.
FOREST SERVICE WORKER TERRY
BARTON WAS ON FIRE LOOKOUT IN
PIKE NATIONAL FOREST WHEN SHE
SPOTTED A FIRE.
THESE FIRST MOMENTS OF THE FIRE
PROVED SO CRITICAL THAT
INVESTIGATORS ASKED BARTON TO
RECREATE THEM ON TAPE.
SHE TRIED TO SMOOTHER THE FLAMES
AND REALIZED SHE NEEDED BACKUP
FAST.
THE FIRE ERUPTED AND RAGED OUT
OF CONTROL.
WHEN INVESTIGATORS ARRIVED, THEY
PHOTOGRAPHED THE CAMPFIRE RING
AND SEARCHED FOR CLUES.
THEIR INITIAL CONCLUSION, A
IN-BRAINER, CARELESS CAMPERS
STARTED THE FIRE.
IN FACT, A WITNESS DID REPORT
SEEING A VAN LEAVING THE AREA.
>> I'M THINKING WHY AM I GOING
TO A CAMPFIRE, YOU KNOW?
>> Reporter: JONES REMEMBERS
THINKING IT WAS A WASTE OF TIME
TRACKING SIX HOURS THROUGH THE
SMOKY HAZE TO FIND AND QUESTION
A NEGLIGENT CAMPER?
WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING BACK TO
THE SCENE OF THE CRIME?
>> IT'S -- IT'S A LITTLE STRANGE
TO BE BACK BECAUSE IT DOESN'T
LOOK ANYTHING LIKE IT DID THEN.
>> Reporter: WHEN JONES FIRST
ARRIVED HERE, THE VERY PLACE
WHERE THE FIRE BEGAN, HER
INSTINCTS IMMEDIATELY TOOK OVER.
REMEMBER, THERE WAS A DROUGHT
AND HIGH TEMPERATURES.
>> IT WAS A 90-DEGREE DAY AND
NOBODY IS GOING TO BUILD A FIRE.
>> Reporter: SHE TALKED TO THE
FIRST INVESTIGATORS.
>> AS I'M LOOKING AT THINGS, I
DON'T SEE ANY EVIDENCE OF
CAMPING.
THEY WERE LIKE MAYBE IT WAS A
HOT DOG THEY COOKED.
WHERE IS THE TRASH?
>> Reporter: I WANT WAS COMMON
SENSE SHARPENED BY YEARS OF
POLICE WORK.
IN THE '80s JONES WAS A COP IN
MISSOURI AND THEN WORKED
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES FOR THE EPS
BUT JONES WAS NEW TO THE U.S.
FOREST SERVICE AND ONLY WORKED A
FEW FIRES.
IN FACT, JONES HAD ONLY TAKEN
HER FIRST FORENSIC FIRE
INVESTIGATION TRAINING A YEAR
EARLIER.
>> THE FIRE MOVED DIRECTLY
UNDERNEATH THIS WORK AND WENT
STRAIGHT OUT.
>> Reporter: JONES TRACED THE
FIRE TO A POORLY BUILT CAMPFIRE
RING.
WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THE FORMATION
OF ROCKS THAT MADE YOU THINK
SOMETHING WAS FISHY HERE.
>> A LARGE ROCK WAS PROPERTIED
UP BY ANOTHER ROCK.
IT LOOKS LIKE THIS FIRE IS
STAGED TO LOOK LIKE A CAMPFIRE
BUT INTENTIONAL.
>> Reporter: THEN JONES TOOK A
CLOSER LOOK AT THE ASHES AND
MADE AN IMPORTANT FIND.
>> IT'S A PAPER MATCH AND I CAN
SEE CLEARLY THE HEAD OF IT AND
CLEARLY THE STEM.
I WANTED TO GET CLOSER TO IT AND
THEN I NOTICED THERE IS A SECOND
MATCH DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH IT.
>> Reporter: THEN A THIRD MATCH.
>> AND THE THREE MATCHES WERE
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS
CLUMP OF GRASS.
>> Reporter: WHAT IF THE PERSON
STARTS THEIR FIRE AND THROUGH
THE MATCH OFF TO THE SIDE.
>> THEY COULDN'T HAVE BEEN FLUNG
BECAUSE I FOUND THREE WITHIN AN
INCH AND A HALF OF EACH OTHER.
>> Reporter: AT THAT MOMENT
JONES KNEW SHE WASN'T LOOKING
FOR A CARELESS CAMPER BUT
EVIDENCE TO AN ARSONIST.
DO YOU THINK YOU WERE MAYBE
BEING TOO MUCH THINK OF SNIT.
>> DID.
>> Reporter: JONES THOUGHT SHE
NEEDED HELP AND SHE BROUGHT IN
HER FIRE INSTRUCTOR, PAUL, A
SENIOR SPECIAL AGENT WITH THE
FOREST SERVICE.
>> WE WERE GOING TO NEED AN
EXPERT WITNESS AND HE'S EXPERT
AND WITH IT BEING THE BIGGEST
FIRE IN COLORADO, THERE IS
JUST -- MY --
>> Reporter: WOULD YOU GET
PICKED APART?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
>> KIM IS A VERY SEASONED
INVESTIGATOR BUT VERY
INEXPERIENCED WITH FIRE
INVESTIGATIONS.
>> Reporter: HE HAS MORE THAN 35
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IS KNOWN TO
BE ONE OF THE BEST IN THE FIRE
INVESTIGATION BUSINESS.
>> QUESTIONS FOR ME YOU GUYS?
>> Reporter: SO GOOD, HE TRAINS
MANY OF THE NATION'S WILDFIRE
INVESTIGATORS.
>> WATCH HOW IT COMES OUT LOW
AND GOES OUT HIGH.
>> Reporter: HOURS AFTER SHE
CALLED FOR HELP HE FLEW TO
COLORADO AT THE SAME TIME THE
DRIVER OF THAT VAN SPOTTED
LEAVING THE SCENE WAS FOUND BUT
HAD AN ALIBI AND WAS CLEARED.
INVESTIGATORS HAD NO OTHER LEADS
SO THEY RETURNED TO THE SCENE
AND BEGAN A PAIN-STAKING
FORENSIC INVESTIGATION.
HE
HE MAPPED THE PATH OF THE FLAME
WITH COLORED FLAGS.
>> IT'S THE FIRE'S FOOTPRINTS.
>> Reporter: AND SIFTED THROUGH
THE ASHES AT THE CAMPFIRE RING.
JONES REMOVED THE CRUCIAL
EVIDENCE, THE THREE MATCHES BUT
PHOTOS SHOWING THEIR EXACT
POSITION WHEN THE FIRE IGNITED
WAS VITAL.
>> BEING ABLE TO ENHANCE THAT
PHOTOGRAPH AND BRING THAT
ORIGINAL POSITION OF THOSE
MATCHES OUT WAS FAIRLY CR LY C
TO OUR THEORY.
THE STEAM AND HEAD, THE SECOND
ONE, THE HEAD AND THE STEAM AND
THE THIRD ONE, THE HEAD AND THE
STEM.
>> Reporter: THEY SAID THE
ARSONIST PURPOSELY STRUCK THE
MATCHES WITH THE GRASS.
REMEMBER TERRY BARTEN?
HE THOUGHT MAYBE SHE WOULD
REMEMBER KEY DETAILS.
>> BRING HER UP THERE AS A
WITNESS AND HAVE HER REENACT HER
ACTIONS ON THE DAY OF THE FIRE.
HER STORY IS SHE SMELLED SMOKE.
>> SHE DROVE UP ON THE FIRE AND
SAW IT AND PARKED HER VEHICLE.
>> Reporter:
>> AND FOUND THE COMP FIRE
BURNING AT 20 BY 20 FEET.
>> Reporter: IF YOU LOOK THERE
AMONG THE TREES YOU CAN SEE THEM
TIMING BARTON'S EVERY STEP.
AND IN THEIR RECONSTRUCTION,
THEY STUMBLED ACROSS SOMETHING
THEY COULDN'T EXPLAIN.
>> THE STORY JUST DID NOT MAKE
SENSE WITHIN THE FIRE BEHAVIOR
CONTEXT.
>> Reporter: REMEMBER, BARTON
SAID SHE WAS FIRST DRAWN TO THE
FIRE BY IT'S SMELL BUT EXPERTS
ON FIRE BEHAVIOR SAID NOT
POSSIBLE.
>> WE ASKED THE ANALYST FOR ONE,
COULD A PERSON HAVE SMELLED
SMOKE FROM A 20 X 20 FIRE AND
THEY SAID NO, THERE IS NO WAY
YOU COULD HAVE.
>> Reporter: AT THAT MOMENT THE
MYSTERY WOULD SHIFT ONCE AGAIN.
>> THE MORE WE TALKED TO HER,
THE CLEARER IT BECAME TO US THAT
SHE MOVED FROM A WITNESS TO A
PERSON OF INTEREST.
>> Reporter: IT CHANGED FROM WHO
DONE IT TO A MORE PERPLEXING