Billy Cloud, the man who is accused of starting the 2012 wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes, could be off the hook after a Creek County judge dismissed the case on Friday afternoon.
Creek County Assistant District Attorney Mike Loeffler says the case has been reset several times. Each time, he says, witnesses have failed to show up. Although the case has been dismissed, he says he hopes the families know it's not a reflection on them.
2 Works for You spoke with a man who says he's spent more than 30 years on his property with his wife, but he remembers one day in 2012 vividly.
"The whole country was [an] inferno and just all night long it was just a red glow," Robert said. "It was just horrifying."
It was a day that changed Robert's life forever.
"I didn't know what was going to happen, but I found out the next day when I lost everything," he said.
On a warm day in August 2012, Creek County deputies responded to a wildfire that burned more than 60,000 acres. It quickly became the largest wildfire in state history. Robert's house, pictures and memories were all left in a pile of ashes.
"I lost photographs of my folks and my grandparents that I'd had for years and years," he said. "I'll never get them back."
Authorities accused Billy Cloud of starting the fire. He was arrested in April of 2016, four years later. Until in October when the case was dismissed.
"We had two material witnesses that didn't show up [Friday], one family member and one non-family member," Assistant District Attorney Mike Loeffler said. "We just didn't have the evidence to go forward."
Although Robert says he's surprised the case was dismissed, he doesn't have any resentment.
"It's happened and he might as well forget about it," he said.
As time passed, Robert hit another rough patch when he lost his loving wife. But he holds no ill will, just the memories burned into his mind's eye.
"It's all in the past now," he said.
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