One dead, home destroyed, after fatal Burney blaze

BURNEY — Details are still trickling in after a fatal fire that ripped through a residence at Burney’s Los Colinas Mobile Estates early this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 22. One area news agency, KRCR 7 News, has reported at least one fatality related to the fire, which destroyed a double-wide mobile home. The park, which is located along Highway 299E at Tamarack Ave. on Burney’s west end of town, was built in 1977 and features spaces for about 55 homes.

A woman who lived at the home escaped the fire, but reportedly sustained “possible domestic abuse injuries,” KRCR reported this morning. As of this report, a dog was still missing and believed to have perished in the deadly blaze.

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Officials were first alerted to the fire a few minutes before 2 a.m., after receiving reports of a mobile home blaze with victims possibly trapped inside the burning residence.

Burney Fire Protection District Chief Keady was first to answer the call and respond to the emergency and he reportedly arrived at the scene within two minutes of the dispatched call.

Keady confirmed finding a working residential structure fire, with nearby homes and outbuildings threatened by the intense and quickly growing blaze.

Firefighters from Burney, Cassel, and Cal Fire-Shasta County raced to the scene and immediately began an aggressive fire attack, while defending other nearby homes from the fire’s spread.

As firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze and protect other residences, the home’s roof collapsed in on itself, and the mobile home was eventually reduced to piles of smoldering debris.

Despite mounting an aggressive fire attack, a home was consumed by a fast-moving fire that destroyed a Burney home and reportedly left one man dead. Shawn Montgomery/SCNS photo

Although the mobile home was considered a total loss, firefighters’ efforts saved the two neighboring homes. One of those nearby residences sustained damage from the intense heat caused by the blaze, but there were no other known injuries or losses reported.

Deputies and arson investigators were on scene as the fire was being knocked down, and their investigation into the cause of the fatal blaze is ongoing.

Firefighters remained at the scene for several hours after the fire was extinguished, conducting extensive overhaul and mop-up operations.

No further information or details about the man who reportedly died in the blaze were immediately available, and as of this report a request sent to BFPD for additional details had not yet been responded to.

This is a developing story that will be updated as new information is available.

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.