Ambushed US firefighters ‘didn’t have a chance’

REBECCA BOONE and CHRISTOPHER WEBER |

Firefighters were responding to a small brush fire when they were ambushed.
Firefighters were responding to a small brush fire when they were ambushed.

A US gunman armed with a rifle started a wildfire before shooting at first responders in a northern Idaho mountain community, killing two firefighters and wounding a third during a barrage of gunfire over several hours.

A shelter-in-place order was lifted on Sunday night after a tactical response team used mobile phone data to “hone in” on a wooded area where they found the suspect’s body with a firearm nearby as flames rapidly approached, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said. 

Officials did not release his name, nor did they say what kind of gun was found.

Law enforcement and emergency responders at Cherry Hill Park
The sniper was hiding in the rugged terrain with a high-powered rifle. (AP PHOTO)

“We do believe that the suspect started the fire, and we do believe that it was an ambush and it was intentional,” Norris said at a Sunday night news conference. 

“These firefighters did not have a chance.” 

Sheriff’s officials said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain just north of Coeur d’Alene around 1:30pm and gunshots were reported about a half hour later. 

“We believe that was the only shooter that was on that mountain at that time,” Norris said.

Three victims were brought to Kootenai Health, said hospital spokesperson Kim Anderson. 

Two were dead on arrival and the third was being treated for injuries.

The wounded firefighter was “fighting for his life” after surgery and was in stable condition, Norris said. 

The scene was sheer pandemonium as the brush fire burned and firefighters rushed to the scene only to come under heavy fire. 

First responders made urgent calls for help on their radios: “Everybody’s shot up here … send law enforcement now,” according to one dispatch.

Idaho Governor Brad Little said “multiple” firefighting personnel were attacked. 

“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Little said on X. 

“I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”

Norris said it appeared the sniper was hiding in the rugged terrain and using a high-powered rifle. 

Just as the evening press conference was expected to begin, the bodies of the slain firefighters arrived in the nearby city of Spokane, Washington, escorted by a procession of fire and law enforcement vehicles. Firefighters and others saluted as the vehicles passed by.

A procession for killed firefighters
Locals paid tribute to the slain firefighters as their bodies passed by in a procession. (AP PHOTO)

An alert by the Kootenai County Emergency Management Office asked people to avoid the area around Canfield Mountain Trailhead and Nettleton Gulch Road, about 6.5km north of downtown Coeur d’Alene. 

The FBI responded to the scene with technical teams and tactical support, Deputy Director Dan Bongino said.

Coeur d’Alene is a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington. Canfield Mountain is a popular hiking and biking area on the city’s outskirts, covered with trees and heavy brush and crisscrossed with trails that lead into a national forest.

with reuters

AP