Graham man pleads guilty in Mebane warehouse fire, gets prison sentence

A Graham man admitted setting the July fire at Sports Endeavors on Corporate Park Drive in Mebane, and an Alamance County Superior Court judge sent him to prison for 71 to 98 months after the blaze left a firefighter with a serious medical emergency and caused an estimated $44 million in damage.

Jacari Bunting pleaded guilty April 8 in connection with the warehouse fire at 1014 Corporate Park Drive. WFMY News 2 reported that the sentence was in the aggravated range and that Bunting will receive credit for 184 days already served. He had been arrested July 14, 2025, after investigators tied him to the fire, and he had initially faced charges of burning an occupied commercial structure and setting fire to a commercial structure that caused injury to a firefighter.

The fire broke out July 11, 2025, when Mebane firefighters responded to the Sports Endeavors building. Reports placed the first call between about 1:30 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. Fire crews quickly got the flames under control, and all employees were accounted for, but one firefighter was taken to the hospital after becoming overheated or otherwise medically compromised during the response. The warrant described the condition as a serious medical emergency, while another account described it as heat exhaustion. Alamance County EMS also responded to the scene.

The case carried consequences far beyond the criminal charge. Mebane police asked the public for help during the investigation of what was described as a suspicious fire, and the damage estimate climbed to about $44 million. That made the blaze one of the region’s most costly recent fire cases, with the burden falling not only on the business but also on firefighters, EMS crews and investigators who had to contain the scene, treat an injured firefighter and sort out the cause.

Sports Endeavors has long roots in North Carolina. The company started in Durham, moved to Hillsborough in 1991 and later made Mebane its shipping location for all of its brands, which meant the warehouse loss had a direct impact on operations well beyond one building on Corporate Park Drive. For Alamance County residents, the case is another reminder that a single fire can trigger criminal penalties, medical emergencies and major economic loss all at once.