(Reuters) -Multiple firefighters were attacked on Sunday when responding to a fire in north Idaho, Governor Brad Little said, asking people to stay away from the area.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters. I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more,” Little said in a post on X.
He did not give further details on any casualties or how the incident unfolded.
“As this situation is still developing, please stay clear from the area to allow law enforcement and firefighters to do their jobs,” Little added.
Local news reports citing police scanners stated that multiple firefighters had been shot – but this could not be immediately confirmed by Reuters.
Calls to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, along with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, city police and Idaho state police were not returned.
The Kootenai County Emergency Management office issued an alert for citizens in nearby areas to shelter in place.
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 the city when they came under gunfire from somebody in a nearby wooded area.
Howard said that officials were investigating whether the fire was deliberately set.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk and Diane Craft)
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