Burney area fire resources taxed fighting eight suspicious overnight fires

JOHNSON PARK, Calif. — Intermountain area firefighters from multiple area fire stations spent nearly three and a half hours knocking down eight separate but possibly related fires early Thursday morning, March 4. The fires included a large log deck blaze at a lumber yard and seven additional grass and vegetation fires within a half-mile radius. Authorities have since said the fires were suspicious in nature and an arson investigation is underway.

This morning’s suspicious fires come on the heels of numerous other recent Intermountain area arsons, including two that resulted in arrests. One of the incidents involved a Montgomery Creek woman who was arrested while walking away from a car fire she admitted to starting in January. She remains in custody, where she is being held on $56,000 bail.

Another involved a Burney resident and convicted arsonist, who was arrested after lighting two fires, vandalizing a video dispensing machine, and then resisting arrest less than two weeks ago. He also remains in custody, where he is being held without bail.

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Burney Fire Protection District and other area fire stations were dispatched to a report of an unknown type structure on fire burning somewhere across from a home in the 38000 block of SR-299E in Johnson Park around 12:19 a.m., BFPD Fire Chief Monte Keady told SCNS this afternoon.

Arriving within minutes of the dispatched call, crews from Burney Fire Protection District, with assistance from CAL FIRE-Shasta, and the Cassel Volunteer Fire Company, located a large log deck burning at H and R Logging, located at 21681 Cottonwood Street. Firefighters soon found four additional vegetation fires burning in the area, according to Keady.

Fire crews, with the assistance of H and R Logging employees using an excavator, are seen extinguishing one of eight suspicious log deck and vegetation fires that burned in Johnson Park overnight. Three of those other fires were reported about thirty minutes after the initial fires, near a trailer park approximately a half-mile away. Burney Fire Protection District photos

Firefighters began an immediate attack on the blazes and were able to keep the different fires from spreading to nearby equipment or an excavator that had been parked near where the fires were burning.

The excavator soon came in handy when it was bravely operated by H and R Logging employees to aid in the fire suppression efforts. Employees alerted to the fire were soon seen using the excavator’s log grapple attachment to break up the still burning log pile “and aid in the extinguishment effort,” the Chief explained.

About 30 minutes into the fire suppression efforts, the on-scene incident commander received information from SHASCOM emergency dispatchers that there was possibly another fire burning about a half-mile away, at the old trailer park in the area of SR-299E and St Helena, next to the Rainbow’s End Trailer Park. 

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“Upon investigation, three additional and separate fires were discovered at that location,” said Keady.

Additional resources were immediately requested, at which time Hat Creek Volunteer Fire Company and CAL FIRE-Lassen were dispatched to the scene to assist.

“Resources from the first incident were then redeployed to aid in extinguishing the new wildland fires,” Keady explained; adding that the multiple fires were knocked down around 3:40 a.m.

“The owners of the log deck remained at the scene during the night to ensure the fire remained
extinguished,” the Chief added.

Jamie-Sue Rowton, who was the first person to spot this morning’s fires and called 911, snapped several photos of the log deck fire burning at H and R Logging in Johnson Park. It was just one of eight fires to erupt within a half-mile radius over a thirty-minute period. Jamie-Sue Rowton photos

Although H and R Logging’s log deck was damaged and the company’s excavator used during the suppression efforts received minor scorching from the intense heat of the fire, no other property was damaged as a result of the multiple fires.

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In total, engine companies from BFPD, CAL FIRE-Shasta (Johnson Park), and CAL FIRE-Lassen Unit, along with two water tenders from BFPD, and a water tender from Cassel Volunteer Fire Company were dispatched to fight the multiple fires. 

A CAL FIRE Fire Prevention Officer also responded to the scene, due to the suspicious nature of the fires, with Chief Keady explaining, “The cause of the fire was determined to be suspicious and is under investigation by CAL FIRE Prevention Division.”

“If you have any information regarding this incident that may be helpful to the investigation please contact Burney Fire Protection District or CAL FIRE Prevention,” added Keady.

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Zack Montgomery/SCNS photos above, video below.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

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 30 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 18 grandchildren.