COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Firefighters are struggling to understand an attack that killed two of their own while fighting a grass fire on Canfield Mountain over the weekend.
Fire Battalion Chiefs John Morrison and Frank Harwood died in the ambush. Fire Engineer David Tysdal is recovering from gunshot wounds. The mountain remains closed as crews fight the fire.
The attack shocked firefighters who face dangers every day but never expected this.
“They were doing everything they were supposed to do,” said Pete Holley with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue. “It’s not something we expect.”
The firefighters responded to what seemed like a routine grass fire. These calls are common in the region but create anxiety during fire season. This incident, adds a new layer to that.
“This was not normal,” said Shawn Thomas, who founded First Responders Conference to support emergency workers.
The attack brought 300 police officers to the scene, including Spokane Police Lt. Jay Kernkamp.
“Just really encouraging agencies, police, fire everybody across the board to plan for events such as this so that it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Kernkamp said.
Thomas said the community needs to talk about what happened instead of trying to move on.
“It really is important to talk about it, and not just shut it down and try to move forward because things like this, you know, aren’t normal,” Thomas said.
Support resources are available for the community and first responders. You can find a list of community resources attached below.
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