Comp Fire Burning News Today

Biggest fire in colorado history but start a small fire, suppress it and be recognized as a hero. >> reporter: and so whether heart-broken terry barton remains a history. the case remains not known. she pled guilty. what does it say about the evidence. >> it was strong. >> reporter: jones says in a strange way she feels sorry for terry barton and her daughters. >> people think they burn something and its gone but there is evidence there and it speaks loudly and key in this case. >> reporter: als...

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 burn...

The letter. it was an emotional act, and it was a stupid act on my part and i tried to cover it up because of fear. >> she was admitting to being responsible for the fire and that was the goal. >> reporter: but jones said the evidence didnt point to paper. >> i didnt find paper. >> reporter: to an untrained eye it would seem plausible that the matches and papers burned in the campfire and thats the end of that. >> well, i mean i still had the matches, and they didnt blow away. >> you know, i was...

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. >> im 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? >> its -- its a little strange to be back because it doe...

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 question, would a forest worker, a mother of two set off what became the worst fire in colorado history? >> up nex...