At least two shot dead in ambush on US firefighters in Idaho

US AUTHORITIES HAVE said that one shooter has been found dead and is believed to have acted alone, after firefighters were ambushed while tackling a blaze in the northwestern state of Idaho.

At least two firefighters were killed in the ambush on Canfield Mountain, a popular park and hiking area in Coeur d’Alene in Kootenai County.

This led to an hours-long standoff with the police, and the county enacted a shelter-in-place order. 

“Based on preliminary information we believe that was the only shooter,” Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris told a news conference, adding “there is no threat to the community at this time.”

Authorities said they found a “deceased male” with a gun found nearby. They said that a shelter-in-place order “is being lifted,” but warned that there was still an active wildfire on Canfield Mountain.

The attack was carried out with high-powered rifles, Sheriff Robert Norris said during an earlier news briefing.

Footage from the TV station and a photo published by NBC showed dense white smoke billowing above a hilly, forested area.

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Earlier, local fire chief Pat Riley described himself as “heartbroken” by the attack.

He told local TV station KHQ that no evacuations had been ordered, even though the fire was still burning.

When asked if there was a concern about the fire spreading, he told KHQ: “Yes there is. To what extent, I can’t say, because we can’t get people to where the fire’s at.”

He said he did not know how many casualties there were, but that they were “all fire service personnel.”

According to the US Gun Violence Archive, there have been 189 mass shootings in the United States this year. The organisation defines a mass shooting as incidents where at least four people are killed or wounded, other than the shooter.

Idaho Governor Brad Little described the attack as a “heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters.”

He said he was “heartbroken” by the attack in a post on Facebook.

© AFP 2025