Idaho Firefighters Ambushed: What to Know

TIME

Two firefighters were killed and a third badly injured after they were shot at while responding to a wildfire near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Sunday afternoon.

Transcript

00:00At approximately 1.21 this afternoon, we received a phone call that there was a fire on the back side or east side of Canfield Mountain.

00:10Fire assets responded to the scene, and at approximately 2 o'clock, firefighters broadcast that they were being shot at on Canfield Mountain.

00:22During that next hour and a half where we have assets that are responding to the aid of these firefighters, we still have an active fire.

00:36We are managing about 17,000 square foot containment area.

00:46So we had about 300 law enforcement officers that were on scene that were trying to make heads and tails out of what was occurring.

00:58And during this time, we exchanged gunfire with the suspect.

01:05We honed in on that cell phone, and we saw that there was a male, appeared to be deceased, with a weapon nearby.

01:13So we have currently one dead shooter.

01:19Based on the preliminary investigation that was being conducted, keep in mind we had a fire that was rapidly approaching the body.

01:33So we had to scoop up that body, and we had to transport that body to a different location.

01:42But based on the preliminary information, we believe that is the only shooter that was on that mountain at that time.

01:51So there is no threat to the community at this time.

01:57We do believe that the suspect started the fire, and we do believe that it was an ambush, and it was intentional.

02:07We did lose a Coeur d'Alene firefighter, and we did lose a firefighter from the Cooney County Fire and Rescue.

02:15We have another firefighter that just came out of surgery from the Coeur d'Alene Police Department.

02:20I'm sorry, from the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department.

02:22Is that true?

02:23Okay.

02:24He just came out of surgery.

02:25He is fighting for his life, but he's in stable condition.

02:29He is fighting for his life.

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