was briarwood built up to code? >> absolutely. >> reporter: jamie flemming is the spokesman for moore public schools. >> it was built to the standards of that day. >> reporter: after decades of focusing on hurricane-prone regions, researchers are pushing to strengthen building codes throughout tornado alley to withstand low-level twisters. among the suggestions, metal straps holding a building's roof to its walls and the walls to the foundation. >> i think it's going to catch on across the country in tornado-prone areas. >> reporter: just last month, moore became the first city in the country to pass new stronger residential building codes to withstand tornadoes with winds of up to 135 miles per hour. the change did not include schools, but briarwood and nearby plaza towers elementary, where seven children died, are both being rebuilt with storm shelters. amanda mccalister who is still rebuilding her home hopes her kids will never have to use them. >> you're never really i think goings to fully understand weather. y

. >> reporter: briarwood, site of one of the fires, behind me it's a small fire but another one on the other side of this hill, and one beyond that, 11 within a mile. and two more fires set the day before. all of the fires set in grass or brush, all of them thankfully never grew larger than this one on columbine. where crews are mapping the origin. a few blocks away on briarwood, arson investigators gathering evidence. 11 fires, some set within just minutes of each other. >> as firefighters, we're responding to one cat this morning. they rolled up on another one that hadn't been reported yet. >> reporter: police look at the blazenness of the crimes may have been sparked by a number of conditions. the hot, dry weather or pictures of the devastating fires in san diego county. it reminds residents of this area of a series of 60 arson fires set in early 2012. no one ever arrested. >> it's disconcerting. it's a worry. >> this is a very scary situation. >> reporter: arson investigators are concentrating on this side of briarwood. i am told between this series and the two one years ago, the t

and you realize that that could have been the last day. >> reporter: and at briarwood elementary set to reopen in august, it's a beacon of hope. >> it was just awesome the way that people lifted us up. and then the days after it just felt like a hand on our back holding us up. we've just come back stronger. >> briarwood and plaza towers were both rebuilt with storm shelters, and the teachers, parents and students are so excited for both schools to open again in august. back to the studio. >> as she said, they have come back stronger. ginger, thank you. >>> now, to one of the nfl's top players fighting back after getting suspended for failing a drug test. robert mathis admits he took a banned substance. but claims he did it to enhance his fertility, not his performance on the field. abc's alex perez has the story. >> reporter: this morning one of the nfl's leading defenders, robert mathis, is defending himself in a performance-enhancing drug controversy. >> great play by mathis. >> reporter: he's an all hi all-pro-player who helped make the colts 2006 super bowl champs. but mathis has

nearby briarwood elementary is being repaired. both of the schools will have storm shelters. the big debate raging right now is how to get storm shelters in 1100 other schools here in the state. the cost of that is astronomical. it's close to a billion dollars by some estimates. but moore, oklahoma, has become the first city in the country to change residential building codes. they're now hoping the stronger building codes catch on in other parts of tornado alley. but might be able to minimize the damage if for example an ef-1 and ef-2 tornado. we're at a memorial service earlier today and also a ceremonial ground breaking for the moore medical center. another one of the buildings that was destroyed. a very somber anniversary here. we've seen flags throughout the city that say moore strong. and indeed, it has been over this past year. back to you. >> gabe, luke russert here. i was on assignment in moore about a month ago right where you're at. i was struck by the resiliency not just in the adults but the kids seemingly able to persevere on and understanding what occurred was

. >> reporter: robin is a teacher at briarwood elementary. and chaos on her cell phone. >> i hate this! >> reporter: nobody at briarwood died. the plaza towers elementary was not so lucky. the school didn't have a safe room or storm shelter. the tornado destroyed the building and killed seven children. a year later, the memories of that day are still fresh. >> before the tornado ever came through, it was we need to do a tornado drill. now we call it the storm drill. just the word scares some of them. >> reporter: moore's mayor says residents there are realistic. they know they will have another tornado some day. >> we want a storm shelter at every business and every place in town. >> reporter: today, moore is rebounding and rebuilding. both briarwood and plaza towers elementary are scheduled to reopen in time for the next school year. >> pretty exciting. we will have a new home, new school, hopefully a happier year. >> reporter: the new plaza towers will have a safe room. karen travers abc news, washington. >>> there was severe weather yester

. >> reporter: arson investigators are concentrating on this site in briarwood. they came away with three bags of evidence. i am told the type of fire, the frequency and the geographic location are all very similar. what investigators need is some help. and what they are telling residents here is please call fire, call the police investigators if you see anything suspicious. they're going to have two dozen police and fire investigators in this neighborhood tonight patrolling, but they need help in trying to find who has been setting these fires. reporting from novato. nbc bay area news. >>> similar scene playing out in walnut creek. someone intentionally set five small fires in the past ten days. this is all unfolding in the alvarado park neighborhood. the latest one happened at 7:30 last night. a total of only about 3 acres have burned so far but the danger is real. smoke and ash. we want to show you a fire in san diego county. this is over the san marcos. the firefighters are working around the clock to gain control of the wildfires racing through the county. r

school administrators hope to open it in the fall, and have classes again, and this school along with briarwoodmentary being rebui rebuilt. and now that is a big issue here in oklahoma, how to pay for rebuilding them. 1,100 schools in oklahoma do not have shelters in the their schools, and so who going to pay for them? and right now the legislature is discussing how the pay for them and some of the estimates are $800 million. this is a somber anniversary for the community and a remembrance ceremony getting under way in a half hour or so, and again, a lot of progress has been made here in moore, oklahoma, chris in the last year. >> thank you, gabe gutierrez. >>> if you read one thing, when the wife of new york city's mayor had her first child at 40, it was hard. and she talks about that in new york magazine, but what a firestorm her comments touched off. one newspaper columnist calling her a bad mom, and now her husband is fighting back. the story sup on our facebook page. lets us knwhat you think at facebook.com/jansingco. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what

this is briarwood school. this, i believe, was the -- this was the hospital medical center.ee it's just a blank slate there. they stale have a rebuild. and this, of course, was plaza towers school where the children lost their lives. this is the video we took from air so show the complete devastation where part of the town is intact, the rest of it is gone forever. things to keep in mind. that medical center needs to be rebuilt. we all care in the moment. americans, especially, are tremendously generous in the moment of crisis. but you know, news moves on. not everybody is a george howell who fights to want b to go back and cover again a year later so that we remember west texas that town because that was blown up by that weird explosion at the fertilizeroklahoma, they need y help now. they need it right now. tre build the medical center, storm shelters, schools. and then it's everything that they can't rebuild, the feelings and the families. >> it shows how -- well, when people -- people go back to their lives after these horrific events but it shows that their lives in moo

more than a dozen small fires were set near redwood boulevard and briarwood court thursday night.ires burned dangerously close to some homes. it's in the same neighborhood where a series of fires were set two years ago. >> they're very concerned, and it's important that we have the community's help in finding out who it is that's doing this, so we're asking for community members to keep an eye out and to give us a call if there's anyone suspicious in the area. >> no one was arrested where those fires were set two years ago. investigators are looking whether there's a link between the fires. an investigation is underway into the drowning death of an 18-month-old baby. it happened around 3:45 yesterday at a house on zinfandel court in antioch. when the family members found the baby he wasn't breathing. paramedics performed cpr and took him to the hospital. he did not survive. there was a fence around the pool and adults were present at the time of the drowning. >>> the u.s. coast guard is kicking off national boat safety week with free boat safety checks at oyster point in south san