Fall River Mills accused arsonist remains in custody after May arrest
BURNEY, Calif. — Authorities on Thursday announced the arrest last month of an Intermountain area man in connection with several recent arson-related fires that have burned throughout the Burney and Johnson Park areas since March. The accused remains incarcerated where he is being held without bail.
Some of the many suspicious fires to have swept through the area include several April fires that were set in front of and behind Cal Fire Station 14 in the 37000 block of SR-299E in the unincorporated community of Johnson Park, just west of Burney; and a series of eight arson fires that occurred in March. 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.
In addition to the fires set outside and around Fire Station 14 and several other arson fires that have been set along SR-299E, “Five or six additional fires were set … near the ‘Welcome to Burney’ sign on the town’s west end, near Sierra Pacific Industries,” Burney Fire Protection District Chief Monte Keady previously told SCNS regarding the ongoing arson investigations.
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Since March, Cal Fire has responded to multiple arson-caused fires in the area of Johnson Park with the largest fire being about two acres, according to Cal Fire-Shasta-Trinity Unit.
On May 7, 24-year-old, Cole Rainwater, of Fall River Mills was found at the scene of an illegally set fire on SR-299E and he was subsequently arrested deputies assigned to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Burney Station.
“During the arrest, evidence was recovered linking him to several of the vegetation fires in the Burney/Johnson Park area since March 2021,” Cal Fire explained; while not specifying the type of evidence that linked him to those fires.
He was later booked into the Shasta County Jail in Redding on suspicion of a sole count of arson.
In Thursday’s arrest announcement Cal Fire explained, “In addition to the one count of arson filed by the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, Cal Fire law enforcement officers will be recommending that Rainwater be charged with multiple counts of arson.”
“The State of California remains in a “state of emergency”, therefore, Rainwater will be charged with an enhancement on each arson count,” officials continued.
Other recent arson-related arrests include 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 arrest involved a Burney resident and convicted arsonist, who was arrested after lighting two fires, vandalizing a video dispensing machine, and then resisting arrest in February. He also remains in custody, where he is being held without bail.
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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.
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