News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Alpena Fire Department personnel used the tower truck to change a light on Tuesday at the fire station in downtown Alpena.

ALPENA — After a surprise ambush occurred at a brush fire in Idaho on Sunday, Alpena fire chiefs said they were concerned and shocked by the news.

On Sunday, a group of firefighters from the small mountain community of Coeur d’Alene, ID, a town of around 55,000 people, responded to a wildfire. As they were putting out the blaze, a man perched in a sniper position began firing at them, according to the Associated Press.

First responders made urgent calls for help on their radios at Canfield Mountain just north of Coeur d’Alene. They took cover behind fire trucks, but two died and a third was wounded during a barrage of gunfire over several hours, according to AP.

It is believed that the suspect started the fire and planned the ambush intentionally.

“When you have an environment where you don’t know where the bullets are coming from because of the trees and the shrubbery and what have you, it is daunting for police officers, let alone firefighters,” Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said in an AP News article.

Alpena Fire Chief Rob Edmonds and Alpena Township Fire Chief Tim Baker said that while the incident will not change much about the response to emergency situations, it prompts firefighters to remain vigilant and situationally aware.

Edmonds said that hearing about the ambush caused concern for him.

“It’s a large western city, but it’s still very rural like we are,” he said. “We are not exempt from this type of behavior from people.”

That kind of incident is unpredictable, he said.

“We take safety measures very seriously and try to implement them where we can,” Edmonds said.

Baker said he was shocked that someone would set a fire and ambush first responders like that.

“As someone who used to do wildland firefighting, that’s something you don’t think about in those situations,” he said. “It’s cause for us to be more situationally aware. We have to do that anyways when we get to a call because everyone’s safety is a priority.”

Baker urged the public and fire crews to report anything that they find suspicious.

“If anybody sees something, say something,” he said.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.