Hey, I need to talk to you. There was a fire in Kinney, and Joel is dead.

I could hardly believe the answering machine message from Jen, my fiancee, but I knew it was true. Jen would never joke about something so horrible.

That morning, Dec. 9, I had asked my supervisor if I could miss work on Dec. 19, so I could accompany Jen to the wedding rehearsal of her best friend, Janae Ferguson, and Joel Pierce, a friend of mine when I attended Greenville College.

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Around 5:15 a.m. , the fire began on a couch in a lounge near Joel’s room in Kinney Hall, which housed 36 students. The fire spread quickly.

Smoke detectors woke several students who then woke their neighbors. The fire blocked access to the manual fire alarm, which was never activated.

Thirty-five students escaped from the burning residence hall. Joel did not. He died from smoke inhalation after opening his door and facing the inferno.

Two days later, I stood outside the window of Joel’s first-floor room and pondered the senselessness of his death. If only he had gone out his window, I thought. If only he had felt his door for heat before opening it, he might have been married 11 days later. I wondered what I would have done if I had been in Joel’s place.

Joel undoubtedly woke to a great commotion. Students were yelling. He may not have known about the fire. After all, the dormitory’s alarm never sounded. Even if it had, most students rarely take an alarm seriously.

Joel had three dominant passions in life:God, Janae and music. He was a religion major and a member of the rock band Mustard Seed. In light of his tragic death, the band’s lyrics –written by Joel–were poignant and seemingly prophetic.

On the last night of his life, Joel and Mustard Seed’s former vocalist, Shane Mastumoto, practiced a song titled Gone, which Joel wrote in memory of his grandfather. Matstumoto performed the song at Joel’s memorial service. The lyrics include, The passing of life is hard to bear/ Many memories of you are shared/ You’re at rest now in a better place/ We continue on but for His grace.

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Mustard Seed’s new CD arrived the week after Joel’s death. It contains the song After the Fire — penned by Joel after a fire at a camp he served as a counselor. The song begins, I don’t know what to do/ Flames rise before my eyes/ So glad that though things burnt/ There was no one who died.

Of course, Joel did die.

A month later, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ investigation still has not determined the cause of the blaze. The investigation now focuses on threatening phone calls to Kinney. The investigators have subpoenaed phone records, but they have not yet announced a connection between the calls and the fire.

Meanwhile, Greenville College intends to repair Kinney Hall, which was once the home for members of Jars of Clay, a platinum-selling alternative band. The person most associated with Kinney Hall, however, will forever be Joel Pierce. Now, the survivors of the Kinney fire and Joel’s friends and family are echoing his lyrics:After the fire/ Won’t you hold me?/ Speak to me so tenderly/ After the fire/ Please comfort me/ Wrap me in your tranquillity.