Did a historic Christian camp burn because of a North Carolina high school rivalry?
A high school rivalry is now part of the investigation into a suspicious fire that ravaged a historic 19th century campground last weekend in western North Carolina, according to Catawba County officials.
Forty cabins were destroyed and nine were heavily damaged in the blaze Sunday night at Balls Creek Campground, a Christian camp site on the National Register of Historic Places.
On Thursday, Catawba County Emergency Management acknowledged rumors that have linked two area high schools to the fire and noted a search warrant had been obtained.
“According to task force investigators, it is a belief in the Bandys and Maiden communities that the fire may have been intentionally set as a retaliative measure related to animosity between students at Bandys High School and Maiden High School,” officials said in a press release.
“The task force is investigating this allegation, which as of the time of this release, has neither been corroborated nor refuted. The public is cautioned that this allegation is only one piece of the broader investigation which has many facets.”
Catawba County Sheriff’s Office officials released a statement Thursday noting “several students from both Bandys and Maiden High schools have been questioned and deemed to have no involvement.”
“To date none of these leads or allegations have been substantiated,” the release said. “It is important that our communities not draw conclusions based on allegations or any investigative efforts we are undertaking.”
The Hickory Daily Record reported Thursday the county fire marshal’s office got a tip “that the fire may have been intentionally set in retaliation to an incident that occurred at a Bandys and Maiden High School football game” two days earlier.
Federal, state and local officials have joined the investigation. The fire is being called “suspicious,” but has not yet been labeled an arson. The task force includes the N.C. Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, according to a release.
A cause of the fire has not been determined, according to the release. Investigators say it started around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
Balls Creek Campground is 45 miles northwest of Charlotte. The 33-acre camp is described as “a historic Methodist camp meeting” place, on its Facebook page.
It dates to 1853 and “is believed to be one of the largest religious campgrounds in the southern United States,” according to the Facebook page. The camp has been hit by fires in the past, including one in 1956 that destroyed 130 structures, the camp’s website says.
On Oct. 3, investigators posted a statement asking for “people with deer cameras, or security cameras in the Buffalo Shoals Road area” to call the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 828-464-5241.
This story was originally published October 3, 2019 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Did a historic Christian camp burn because of a North Carolina high school rivalry?."