Dry conditions and a strong wind seem to have emboldened a Cottonwood serial arsonist, who had firefighters scrambling to catch up to multiple intentionally set roadside vegetation fires early Sunday morning. The first one was reported just before 3AM on Trefoil Lane just west of Balls Ferry Road. Cottonwood Fire Protection District dealt with that blaze quickly, but over the next couple of hours they and Cal-Fire went on to extinguish six more fires in Cottonwood. They were:
— on Cremin Place at Manzi Way off Rhonda Road
— on Gas Point Road west of Della Lane
— on Main Street south of Front Street
— on Yokum Road at Cinnabar Road
— on Locust Street north of Trefoil Lane
–on Balls Ferry Road at Woolery Lane
No structures were damaged in the series of fires. Shasta County Arson Task Force Investigators and detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit believe the fires were all started by the same person, and they’re trying to determine if they’re linked to the series of recent structure fires in Cottonwood, including the one that killed 86-year-old Barcie Arlene Miller exactly one week earlier. Anyone who lives in the Cottonwood area and has video surveillance is asked to contact detectives at 245-6135. Secret Witness is offering a $10,000 reward for anonymous tips at 243-2319.