May 25--"Thick acrid smoke billows swiftly upward into the late evening sky."
On May 25, 1979, five people beneath that smoke lay dead, four firefighters and one utility worker, as reported by the Shelby Daily Star that Sunday.
A fireman stood in disbelief in front of a destroyed firetruck, blown-out corners of buildings, charred brick, surrounded by mud and water, shards of glass, debris.
It looked like a scene from war. And indeed the terminology fit the scene.
Casualties--36--with 23 of those being treated and released from the hospital.
Tragedy
A memory that will last forever.
The explosion happened on West Warren Street in uptown Shelby.
Firefighters responded about 6:30 p.m. to "what seemed to be a routine fire call." It took more than 100 of them nearly four hours to put out the blaze.
But the worst of it was the explosion, a blast that racked the city, ripped off the tops of buildings, sent glass and pieces of buildings flying.
People crowded against the First National Bank, desperate to get away.
Five of them never got back up.
Volunteer firemen George Magness, 44, and Gene Melton, 24; full-time firemen Nathan Hall, 27, and Floyd Sharts, 31; and a Shelby gas department worker, Max Bowling, 45, would have their obituaries in the paper that next day.
'A tough age to lose your dad'
Thirteen-year-old Pam Sharts, now Pam Sharts Isaacs, was listening to the radio that day. She often rode with her firefighter dad, Floyd Sharts, to fires and calls. They kept a scanner going 24/7 in their home. But on May 25, she didn't go.
"We had gotten our annuals that day. My mom was cooking supper," she said.
Her mother told her to stay home. Pam said it was a long night.
"I remember listening to it on the radio," she said. "I remember getting the news that he was one of the firemen killed and of course then, the hard part was going through the trial of the men convicted of doing it."
Pam said her father, who was 31 when he died, was a man with a great sense of humor who liked to play practical jokes.
"He was always joking and very light-hearted. He liked to be outdoors. We went fishing, we went to the beach. He liked to make people laugh," she said. "Of the men that got killed in the fire, I think my sister and I were the youngest children. We were young when it happened. It was kind of a tough age to lose your dad."
Pam, who works for hospice now in Cleveland County, said she's seen the grief programs offered to children today, but back then, "we didn't have anything like that."
Her mother, Brenda Sharts, never remarried, choosing to raise her daughters as a single mom.
"It makes you tough," Pam said. "It makes you appreciate things. We lived on a farm. So you have to pull your weight and do a little more, especially with me being the oldest. I think it made me a stronger person."
'A legacy of courage and strength'
Along with nearly 100 other people, Pam was present Friday at a memorial service to honor her father and the other four men who lost their lives in the explosion.
Dr. Eric Davis, chaplain of the Cleveland County Firefighters Association, spoke at the ceremony about the courage it took for those men to walk into that building.
"They left a legacy of courage and strength," he said.
Davis said their courage was akin to that of Moses and Esther--Bible heroes we still remember today--who were willing to save the lives of others, even if it meant disregarding their own.
"On May 25, 1979, we lost five brave people," said Dewey Cook, Cleveland County fire marshal. "They still courageously entered that building and they gave their all."
Never forgotten
In May 1979, the 'nation's worst jetliner crash' happened in Chicago, killing 271 people instantly. A bathing suit at K-mart could be bought for $6.88. John Wayne's health was failing. And a special two-part episode of "Wonder Woman" would soon air on TV.
But those in Cleveland County remember the explosion--of all that happened that year--perhaps the most. By June, an investigation into the fire revealed foul play, according to Shelby Daily Star reports. But a trial wasn't held until 1980. One man, James Jefferies, was convicted in April of five counts of involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy and burning a store building, according to a 1980 Spartanburg Herald-Journal article.
The Star reported that the estimated damage to businesses from the fire was $5 million. But the greatest damage was done to the hearts of those standing on Shelby's sidewalks that Friday evening, and to the hearts of the family members who lost their fathers, brothers, neighbors, friends.
Amid a world that would go on, tragedy had struck Shelby, and it would never been forgotten.
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Community members shared on Facebook their memories of May 25, 1979. Here is a sample of what they said.
I remember this day. I was in the car with my mother. We were driving into town to pick up my sister and her friend from the cinema. I was almost in tears by the time we got to her. The smoke was awful. I thought the theater was on fire. When I found out later that a classmate had lost her father, it impacted me hard. I've never forgotten.
-Kimber Lail-Caldwell
I remember seeing the smoke from Bowen Drive and saying "Something is on fire big time in Shelby."
-Sus Lennhart
Oh wow, yes, I remember this well. I was at the children's clinic (formerly on Lafayette Street) with my son Ernie on that day. It was total shock and confusion that day. And sadness.
-Cindy Bailes
Copyright 2014 - The Star, Shelby, N.C.
