(gentle music) - It was the Monday after Thanksgiving.

I remember it was a sunny, cold day, very cold.

- It was just like any other day.

The only difference was when you're 10 years old, and it was December 1st, it was magical, because December was the month of Christmas.

- As it got closer to the dismissal time, we're looking at the clock on the wall, (laughing) it's almost there, we're almost there.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] No one had any idea that a fire had started in a cardboard trash can filled with school papers in the basement.

- I looked down at the floor and I saw a wisp of smoke.

I said, sister, there's smoke coming in under the door.

So she calmly walked over to the door (gentle music) and she opened the door.

- And the blackest of black, black smoke billowed in like lightning would strike.

The smell was like burning rubber.

- It was so hot.

We were choking.

I wanted to get out, I wanted to get air.

- Kids jumping on each other, walking on desks.

Some kids just sat at their desks and didn't move.

They were like paralyzed.

- People are all around me, pushing and trying to get out the window, and, (gentle music) I'm sorry, I need a minute.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] The fire had burned undetected for 20 minutes, billowing up a stairwell, feeding off wooden floors, walls, and ceiling tiles.

- The fire is a monster that seeks oxygen.

And when it got up to that second floor and there was no fire door, it just raged.

- [Narrator] Smoke, heat, fire and toxic gases consumed the hallway outside second floor classrooms of the north wing, where more than 300 students were finishing their day.

Evacuation routes that teachers and students had practiced using during fire drills were impassable.

Heat shattered glass transoms above classroom doors.

- We were trapped, and the only way out of this place was out the window, where the firemen had to come.