WARNING: THIS STORY MAY BE DISTRESSING FOR SOME LISTENERS
"Lots of sirens. Things are happening."
[[SOUND EFFECT: SIRENS]]
It was supposed to be an ordinary day for firefighters in the US state of Idaho, who had come to tackle a blaze on Canfield Mountain, an area popular with hikers near the city of Coeur d'Alene.
Coeur d'Alene is a picturesque city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington state, and the mountain is covered with trees and heavy brush and crisscrossed with trails that lead into a national forest.
But it quickly became a horror scene.
About 300 law enforcement officers were deployed to the Mountain as a siege unfolded, including technical and tactical teams from the FBI.
"Someone get here right now, there's an active shooter zone. They're shot - BC1's down, BC-3's down. Everyone's shot up here."
Idaho governor Brad Little - and Kootenai County's Sheriff Robert Norris - says multiple firefighters were attacked with a barrage of gunfire over several hours in what he called a "heinous" assault.
The shootings left two firefighters dead.
"We got the first call at 1.21 and we have reports that they were taking shots at about 2 o'clock. I don't know what time they arrived on scene. I don't know what time the firefighters arrived on scene... Oh no, we're taking rapid fire."
When it was all over, US authorities found the body of a man who was quickly identified as the person suspected of being responsible for shooting at the fire crew.
A law enforcement official has identified the suspect as 20-year-old Wess Roley.
His grandfather, Dale Roley, told CNN that he had worked as an arborist and wanted to be a firefighter.
He says they had no reasons to believe he would be involved in a situation like this.
The Sheriff says they believe the gunman was the only shooter involved.
"Based on the preliminary information, we believe that is the only shooter that was on that mountain at that time. So there is no threat to the community at this time."
911 calls from the scene also make it clear the man was also suspected of starting the blaze that brought the fire crews to the mountain.
"It's clear to me that this fire was intentional to draw us in."
A third firefighter was badly wounded in the ambush.
Sheriff Norris says that person has been taken to hospital.
“We did lose a Coeur d'Alene firefighter, and we did lose a firefighter from the Kootenai County Fire and Rescue. We have another firefighter that just came out of surgery from the Coeur d'Alene fire department.... He just came out of surgery. He is fighting for his life, but is in stable condition.”
The motive for the shooting is not known.
But it's raised questions once again about serious gun violence which is common across the United States, where many states have few barriers to the purchasing of firearms, despite widespread support for greater gun control.
The Gun Violence Archive group says there have been 189 mass shootings in the United States this year, which it defines as four or more people shot.
Meanwhile, back in Idaho, firefighters are back at the scene of the blaze where the attack happened.
It has scorched about 10 hectares but no structures have been damaged,
Residents are being advised to be prepared to take further action if required.
