Idaho Sniper Ambush Claims Lives of Two Firefighters Responding to Brush Fire
Authorities locate deceased man beside firearm on Canfield Mountain, the site of the shootings.
Two people were killed and others injured after firefighters responding to a brush fire in northern Idaho were ambushed by gunfire on Sunday.
The crews were responding to an incident on Canfield Mountain, near Coeur d’Alene, when they came under what authorities described as “sniper fire”.
Law enforcement agencies near Coeur d’Alene scrambled to evacuate the area — popular for weekend hikers — while trying to stop what might be multiple attackers who were still firing shots at emergency workers.
“We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak,” said Sheriff Robert Norris of Kootenai County in an afternoon news conference around 4:30 p.m. He was unsure how many people had been hit by gunfire but officials said the two people killed were firefighters.
As the shooting initially unfolded, firefighters pleaded for help after two of them went down with gunshot wounds, according to a feed posted on Broadcastify, a website that provides public access to emergency radio communications. One firefighter reported that they were hiding behind a firefighting rig. One voice could be heard saying that they thought the fire was set intentionally.
BREAKING: Two people are dead after firefighters responding to a fire were ambushed in northern Idaho, authorities say.
Sheriff’s department officers responding to the scene are taking active sniper fire, a county sheriff says. https://t.co/xqFBAO8L2I
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 30, 2025
The fire was intentionally set.
"It's clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in."
"We got two unresponsive battalion chiefs, gunshot wounds, multiple gunshot wounds, two Coeur d'Alene firefighters are down." pic.twitter.com/6pYZrbC4G3
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 30, 2025
Law enforcement, including the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, responded to the scene. Officers and first responders continued to take sniper fire for several hours after the initial attack.
Sheriff Bob Norris said officials weren’t immediately sure how many people were shot.
“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.”
People were still coming off the mountain in the late afternoon, the sheriff said, so it “would be safe to assume” that others were still up there.
The Department of Homeland Security is actively monitoring the situation.
.@DHSgov is actively monitoring the scene in Coeur d’Alene.
Pray for Idaho’s first responders. Justice will be served.
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) June 30, 2025
While there are no details yet on suspects, reports indicate a dead man was found next to a firearm in the area.
A deceased man was found on Canfield Mountain with a firearm nearby, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release posted on Facebook Sunday night.
Officials will disclose further details at a news conference scheduled for 9:30 p.m. local time, according to the release.
The sheriff’s office also said a shelter-in-place order has been lifted, but an active wildfire remains on the mountain.
“Residents in the area are advised to be prepared and ready should further action need to be taken,” the release read.
Dead man was just located next to firearm in area of Idaho firefighter ambush. https://t.co/OTfSjUBgPk pic.twitter.com/vgUr1l3UZU
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) June 30, 2025
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Comments
Domestic or imported terrorism?
I’m going with domestic meth head.
Or “sovereign citizen”.
He’s trans.
“He was a f**king cross dressing weirdo who lived with his daddy and Satan worshipping step mom.”
https://x.com/0HOUR1__
No jihadist goes to the Idaho panhandle to shoot firefighters.
low life terrorists
godspeed and condolences to the families
They found a dead man with a firearm. Is it the right guy? Is it just someone dead with a gun? Is this some sort of false-flag incident and the dead man is the patsy?
Come on, Griz. They’ve found a dead guy in the hills with a weapon nearby and no one else is getting shot at.
He’s the shooter.
Could have also been that dude the murdered his family in Wa and has been on the run. I don’t know why he’d set the fire, he’s been trying to hide from the drag net.
if you are that easily hoodwinked, I have a bridge at a discounted price,….the perp killed someone left his body with the offending weapon, the actual perp goes free and the cops hold a presser claiming it’s all over
Or, as I said, a patsy.
Killed someone and left his body?
I’ve got a bigger bridge for cheaper. Your hypothetical conspirator would have to ignite a wildfire, ambush first responders, also murder a partner because preferred to take on hundreds of LEOs alone, which begs the question why did he have a partner to begin with, or was with a pal who who was murdered so the real killer could start a fire and kill firefighters and then get away with it, which begs the question why have a partner because you can do this very same thing alone, or kill some rando who happened to be there the whole time there was a shootout in the middle of a forest fire and never ran away for some inexplicable reason, then drag the body into a sniper nest, plant a cell phone that had not moved for several hours because it was coming from the same place the gunfire came from, and belonged to someone named Wess Roley, who by sheer coincidence was the dead guy they found, then run away while hundreds of LEOs and helicopter pilots picked their noses.
You know, sometimes, shit simply and un-convolutedly happens.
Oh sure, Mark. Because somebody has it in for some backwoods fire department firefighters.
You watch too much TV.
Griz: Occam’s weapon applies here:
The explanation that requires the fewest assumptions is usually correct.
You are usually more level-headed than that.
I have family in Spokane and have spent a little bit of time there over the years.
There actually are some white militant groups in Idaho. Amazingly they are quite good at staying off the news- considering they are the left’s ultimate boogey man.
What makes these groups able to hide so well is the left hates every rural living individual with an AR and an ORV that happens to have some outdoor skills, so this has made it easy for them to hide in plain sight.
Every once in a while a pipe bomb or something shows up in Spokane and it’s related to these guys. I don’t know how many, how smart or how organized they are. But as with anyone who grew up listening to Country Boy Can Survive, you best give them a wide berth. You don’t bug them and they won’t bug you.
CdA, and adjacent Hayden, is a weird place. CdA Lake has a number of centamillionaires, and even billionaires, with vacation homes along its wooded shores. The only towns in the Rockies with comparable affluent ambiance are Aspen and maybe Jackson Hole. You still see a number of classic wood motorboats on the lake, and seaplanes landing and taking off is not uncommon.
Hayden to the north was a White Power/skinhead center up through Ruby Ridge (maybe 60 miles further north). The skinheads were essentially pushed out and mostly I think into MT where they could hide better. Today, it’s growing like crazy with conservatives from the west coast fleeing the Left Coast and all their crazies. It’s now nice upper middle class, with nice suburban houses, filled with pickup trucks, ATVs, in dogs, and guns. Until recently, Black Sheep, on US 95 on the CdA/Hayden border has been king, but a new store has opened up in Athol maybe 30 miles further north is giving them a run for their money. Inside, they may have an acre or so of long guns, in long racks, for sale. A majority Modern Sporting rifles, many ARs, but also plenty of traditional rifles and shotguns. Not cheap ones either – I saw very title under $1k.
So, when the Sheriff told the community that if they had a clear shot at the perp, to take it, no one was surprised. Of course, that maybe why they found the dead guy with a rifle. Only forensics and an autopsy can determine if it was indeed the shooter, and/or a victim of vigilante justice.
Spokane, 30 miles west on I-90 is viewed as an outpost of the Left Coast crazies. The McDonald’s $5 Meal Deal is $7 there, and gas is maybe 80¢ a gallon more expensive. You have to buy your grocery bags (~8¢) and grocery stores only sell paper bags. City isn’t really that bad, but just seems that way in comparison to CdA/Hayden.
So, during the George Floyd riots, the violent rioters were mostly allowed to do their rioting and arson in Spokane, but apparently some of them decided to go to CdA to get their riot on there. They turned right around when they saw a number of groups of citizens patrolling the streets with AR-15s on slings, some wearing ballistic armor.
I commented last night that while MT has a slightly higher # of homes with guns, my bet is that ID, and esp N ID, my bet is that the # of guns per household is higher in ID, and esp in N ID. Maybe the highest in the country.
We live just across the border in MT, and drive to and through CdA at least monthly. Get my wife’s meds there, and fly in/out of the Spokane airport (much better service than Missoula, including SWA).
I concur.
North of the city is Hayden where the real Neo-Nazis hung out. What goes against the grain is that firefighters and the like are not on the far far right’s list… inner city shooters are far more bluish also. This is probably some crazy grudge holding guy… but have to wait and see.
Gateway Pundit has the shooter’s pic…. it screams “trans”.
Yeah, it certainly does. I wonder which direction. The “FtM” trannies are pumped full of testosterone, and the results are unhinged anger and aggression.
Likely F2M then. Cranked full of testosterone, without a brain wired to handle the resulting aggression. The result is, too often, uncontrolled aggression.
I’d have said firemen.
Why, you dirty rotten sexist misogynist male chauvinist pig!
(I agree.)
Absolutely evil to set a fire and then snipe at firemen.
Agreed. But.. for decades bad people have been making false reports of crimes and then ambushing the police who respond.
That does not make it OK, however. How cold someone think this would benefit them?
I mentioned elsewhere I remember a scenario very similar to this from maybe back in the 70s. (I warned y’all about bringing back bell-bottoms, that the rest of the 70s would follow.)
During the 1967 Detroit riots, some firemen were shot by rioters. But the circumstances were much different than this.
They found the guy they believe was the shooter, dead, from a bullet wound, but have not yet released whether he was killed by a LEO (or a vigilante) or did it himself. He was apparently found on Canfield Mountain, just east of the CdA/Hayden border.
https://maps.apple.com/place?address=Canfield%20Mountain%20Trail%20Complex-Cave-4,%20Coeur%20d%27Alene,%20ID%20%2083815,%20United%20States&coordinate=47.720724,-116.720964&name=Canfield%20Mountain%20Trail%20Complex-Cave-4&map=explore
They’ve identified the man: Wess Roley, 20.
Nothing more, yet. But I’m sure internet sleuths will have something on him or a namesake soon.
If you follow the link for “dead man was found next to a firearm,” it seems to be an open article with subsequent interesting updates.