Fall River man gets nearly 14 years in prison after admitting to 12 Burney area arson fires
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif., — A 24-year-old Fall River Mills man was sentenced to 13 years and 8 months in state prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to igniting at least a dozen fires in the Burney and Johnson Park communities earlier this year. The man, Cole Rainwater, was apprehended May 7, when he was spotted fleeing the scene of a fire he later admitted to setting near SR-299E and Black Ranch Road.
Although suspected of starting more fires throughout the Intermountain area, the twelve fires Rainwater was convicted of igniting included fires that were set in the Burney area between April and May 2021. Even though no property was lost as a result of the fires, the multiple arsons strained local fire resources and left the communities he was targeting fearful for their safety and wondering where the arsonist might strike next.
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Following a string of suspicious fires throughout the area, on May 7, Rainwater was spotted by fire and law enforcement officials in the area of a small vegetation fire. He was subsequently arrested after officials found him to be in possession evidence that Cal Fire said at the time “linked him to several of the vegetation fires in the Burney/Johnson Park area since March 2021.”
Officials did not specify the type of evidence that linked him to those fires, but he was later booked into the Shasta County Jail in Redding on suspicion of a sole count of arson. However, officials soon linked him to many of the area’s other recent fires, leading them to later announce that Cal Fire law enforcement officers would be recommending that Rainwater be charged with multiple counts of arson.
Cole Rainwater, 24, of Fall River Mills, was sentenced to 13 years and 8 months in state prison after pleading guilty in court on Tuesday to setting a dozen Burney area arson fires earlier this year.
“It is believed that Rainwater started seven fires in a series along Tamarack road near Burney on April 19, as well as four fires in a series south of Hwy 299 and East of Johnson Park on May 3,” Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie A. Bridgett said in a social media announcement following Rainwater’s guilty plea.
“Rainwater was ultimately caught by Shasta County Sheriff’s Deputies at the scene of his final fire on May 7 near Highway 299 and Black Ranch Road,” Bridgett continued; saying, “He is also suspected of having started other suspicious fires in the area.”
Additionally, due to the wild-fire prone area’s ongoing “state of emergency” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple major fires burning throughout the North State region at the time, Rainwater was charged with an enhancement on each arson count.
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Bridgett went on to thank CAL FIRE Arson Investigators Alexander & Stewart and Shasta County Sheriff’s Sergeant Tim Estes “for their hard work investigating this case and for working with us to hold Rainwater accountable for his crimes.”
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Trevor Montgomery, 50, 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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