Police taking sniper fire in US after firefighters attacked, two killed, in Idaho

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By Christopher Weber

June 30, 2025 — 10.34am

Two firefighters are dead after they were shot while responding to a fire in a wooded area of Idaho, north-west United States, and law enforcement officers are under sniper fire while hunting for the killer, the local sheriff said.

It was not immediately clear if there was one gunman or more, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said, adding that civilians may have been struck in the incident unfolding in a nature area near the city of Coeur d’Alene.

A blaze burns near Canfield Mountain in Idaho, where a gunman ambushed firefighters responding to the fire.

“We are prepared to neutralise this suspect who is currently actively shooting at public safety personnel,” Norris said.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the shooting, the american ABC News reported.

Firefighters received the first call of a fire about 1.21pm on Sunday (5.21am Monday AEST), Norris said, and about 40 minutes later, reports emerged that they were being shot at.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Jeff Howard told ABC News that firefighters were responding to a small brush fire that broke out in the Canfield Mountain nature area on the eastern side of Coeur d’Alene when they came under gunfire from somebody in a nearby wooded area. Howard said officials were investigating whether the fire was deliberately set.

Governor Brad Little said “multiple” firefighters were attacked.

“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Little said aid on the social platform X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”

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

Coeur d’Alene is a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington.

More to come

AP, Reuters