Officials investigating yet another series of suspicious Johnson Park area fires
JOHNSON PARK, Calif. — Officials are continuing to investigate a series of suspicious fires that burned in the unincorporated community of Johnson Park, east of the Intermountain area town of Burney, early Monday morning, May 3. The suspicious fires follow a number of recent other fires, some of which have been deemed suspicious, while others have been called arson-related.
Three of those recent suspicious or arson-related fires include a Burney resident and convicted arsonist, who was arrested after lighting two fires, vandalizing a video dispensing machine, and then resisting arrest in February and a series of eight arson fires that occurred early Thursday morning, March 4. Those intentionally set fires included a large log deck blaze at a Johnson Park lumber yard on Cottonwood Street and seven additional grass and vegetation fires within a half-mile radius that were set around the same time.
Those fires were followed by several arson-suspected fires that were set in front of and behind Cal Fire Station 14 last month, as well as a half-dozen other arson fires that were set along SR-299E, near the “Welcome to Burney” sign on the town’s west end, near Sierra Pacific Industries that same morning.
Another, earlier arson fire in the Montgomery Creek area, west of Johnson Park and Burney, led to the arrest of a local woman, after she was found walking away from the scene of a vehicle blaze. She later admitted to setting the fire and was subsequently arrested.
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Cal Fire-Shasta, along with numerous other local fire companies were dispatched to the area of Rocky Ridge Road, just west of the junction of highways 89 and 299E around 6 a.m., official radio traffic at the time indicated.
When fire officials began arriving in the area, they reported finding a vegetation fire covering a half-acre, with a slow rate of spread.
Officials spent much of last Monday morning battling a series of suspicious fires that burned around the east end of Johnson Park, south of Four Corners. Images captured by PG&E observation cameras showed multiple separate fires burning in the area at the time. PG&E photos
Firefighters soon reported spotting a second fire burning approximately 500 feet from the first fire and advised the vegetation fire had already spread to about three-quarters of an acre.
Incoming firefighters began to make access to the fires south of Four Corners off SR-89, along the second power line road.
At around 6:45 a.m., firefighters reported finding a third small vegetation fire burning; with a slow rate of spread.
Within minutes they updated having found a fourth fire that had already burned between three-quarters to an acre of vegetation.
Several hours later, around 8:30 a.m., firefighters reported that all forward progress of the four fires had been halted and that resources were continuing to work at the different fire scenes to ensure against new flare-ups or further spread.
As firefighters continued working at the multiple scenes, at around 9:15 a.m. a fifth fire was reported in the area, leading officials to request a helicopter to respond to the area to assist with searching for a possible suspect.
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Although no choppers were available at the time, at around 10:15 a.m. a helicopter was called in from Shasta Trinity to conduct recon over the area where the fires had burned.
The search did not yield any suspects and Cal Fire Fire Prevention/Arson Investigators are continuing their investigation into the multiple suspicious fires.
Click the image below or here to view a live incident log of this incident as reported by FIRE, TRAFFIC & DISASTER INFORMATION SHASTA COUNTY
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.