Two Idaho firefighters were fatally shot and at least one other was wounded Sunday when a sniper ambushed responders to a brush fire near a popular hiking spot.
Late Sunday, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said SWAT teams had located a deceased man with a firearm near the shooting scene at Canfield Mountain, KXLY-TV reported. Further details were to be released at 9:30 p.m. local time.
The fire was reported at Canfield Mountain, just north of Coeur d’Alene, around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said. Gunshots rang out about a half hour after firefighters arrived and continued for hours.
Kootenai County law enforcement halted fire suppression efforts and declared the area around Canfield Mountain a no-fly zone, especially for drones, telling residents of the mountain community and hikers to shelter in place. The shooter or shooters were hidden somewhere on the mountain, a popular hiking spot.
“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris told reporters at a 4:30 p.m. news conference. “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”
He said the shooter — or shooters — appeared to be using high-powered “modern-day sporting rifles,” according to CBS News.
Three shooting victims were brought to Kootenai Health, with two dead on arrival and the third victim being treated, hospital spokesperson Kim Anderson told The Associated Press.
“Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho,” Gov. Brad Little said on X. “This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters. I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”
Even more unfathomable was the possibility that the fire itself may have been no accident.
“It is with heavy hearts that we confirm a tragic incident occurred today while our firefighters were responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene,” the Kootenai chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 2856, said in a statement confirming two of their own had been killed. “Early indications suggest this fire was deliberately set with the intent to harm the brothers and sisters who were dispatched.”
The firefighters had not been identified as of late Sunday.
“Our Local, our department, and our fire service family are devastated,” the IAFF local said. “We are mourning alongside our neighboring Local 710 family and our entire community. This is a senseless act of violence that strikes at the very heart of who we are and the work we do every day to protect the community we love.”
With News Wire Services
