firefighters

Los Angeles firefighters were hampered by a lack of resources for red flag weather conditions in their initial response to the Palisades fire, an internal after-action review report found.

The long-awaited 70-page report, produced by the Los Angeles Fire Department, was released late Wednesday afternoon on the heels of an announcement by federal prosecutors that they had arrested and charged a man with intentionally setting a fire on Jan. 1 that later reignited and became the Palisades fire.

Federal investigators determined that the Jan. 7 fire was a so-called holdover from the Jan. 1 fire, continuing to smolder and burn underground after firefighters thought they had extinguished it. The investigators said that heavy winds six days later caused the underground fire to surface and spread above ground in what became one of the costliest and most destructive disasters in city history.

In its after-action report, the Fire Department listed almost 100 challenges that firefighters faced during the Palisades fire, including an inability to secure the origin of the fire, an ineffective process for recalling firefighters who were off-duty to come back into work, and fire chiefs with little to no experience handling such a major incident. During the initial attack, the report said, most firefighters worked for more than 36 hours without rest.

The report cited a delay in communicating evacuation orders, which resulted in spontaneous evacuations without structured traffic control, causing people to block routes to the fire, the report said. The initial staging area, which was in the path of the evacuation route and the fire, was consumed by flames within 30 minutes, the report said.

The Palisades fire, which started at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 7, was one of the costliest and most destructive disasters in city history, leveling thousands of homes and killing 12 people.

A Times investigation found that LAFD officials did not pre-deploy any engines to the Palisades ahead of the fire, despite warnings about extreme weather. In preparing for the winds, the department staffed up only five of more than 40 engines available to supplement the regular firefighting force.

Those engines could have been pre-positioned in the Palisades and elsewhere, as had been done in the past during similar weather.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A BLOCK of flats erupted has into flames – with dozens of firefighters rushing to the scene.

Ten fire engines and 70 personnel are battling the blaze this morning in Enfield, London.

London Fire Brigade received reports of the fire at two second storey flats in Maybury Close at just before 5.20am.

An LFB statement said: “Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters have been called to a flat fire on Maybury Close in Enfield.

“Two flats on the second floor of a three storey block of flats are alight.

“The Brigade’s 999 Control officers received their first call about the fire at 0519. They mobilised crews from Enfield, Edmonton and surrounding fire stations who are currently in attendance.

“The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.”

Have you been affected by this incident? Email [email protected]

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SACRAMENTO — In howling winds and choking smoke during the January fires that devastated Altadena and Pacific Palisades, more than 1,100 incarcerated firefighters cleared brush and dug fire lines, some for wages of less than $30 per day.

Those firefighters could soon see a major raise. On Thursday, California lawmakers unanimously approved a plan to pay incarcerated firefighters the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour while assigned to an active fire, a raise of more than 700%.

“Nobody who puts their life on the line for other people should earn any less than the federal minimum wage,” said the bill’s author, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), before the Thursday vote.

Bryan’s legislation, Assembly Bill 247, would take effect immediately if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom’s office said he typically does not comment on pending legislation. But in July, he signed a budget that set aside $10 million for incarcerated firefighter wages.

Working at one of the state’s 35 minimum-security fire camps is a voluntary and coveted job, giving inmates a chance to spend time outside prison walls, help their communities and get paroled more quickly.

Incarcerated firefighters don’t wield hoses, but clear brush and dig containment lines while working on front-line hand crews and do work such as cooking and laundry to keep fire camps running.

Prison fire crews at times make up more than 1 in 4 of the firefighters battling California’s wildfires, and have drawn international praise during major wildfire seasons. After the January fires in Los Angeles, celebrity Kim Kardashian called them “heroes” who deserved a raise.

The state’s 2,000 or so incarcerated firefighters earn $5.80 to $10.24 per day at fire camps, and an extra $1 an hour during active wildfires, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. That means the lowest-paid firefighters earn $29.80 per 24-hour shift and the highest-paid, $34.24.

Higher wages are not only a key way to recognize the life-risking contributions made by incarcerated firefighters, backers said, but could also help inmates build up some savings before they are paroled, or more quickly pay restitution to their victims.

Republican lawmakers who backed the plan emphasized the life-changing nature of finding work with meaning.

“When we talk about anti-recidivism, when we talk about programs that work, this is one of the absolute best,” said Assemblymember Heath Flora (R-Ripon).

Flora said he worked alongside incarcerated and formerly incarcerated firefighters during 15 years as a volunteer firefighter, and said they were “some of the hardest working individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”

Bryan originally had proposed a $19 hourly wage, similar to the wage earned by entry-level firefighters with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. During the summer’s budget negotiations, that wage was trimmed to $7.25.

A lobbyist for the California State Sheriffs’ Assn., which opposed the bill, told lawmakers in July that incarcerated firefighters already are “receiving compensation in different ways.” Prison workers assigned to hand crews have their sentences reduced by two days for each day they serve on an active fire.

State Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta), who co-sponsored the bill, cautioned in July that paying higher wages could lead to hiring fewer incarcerated firefighters overall.

The cost to the state will depend on the number of inmate crews staffed and the severity of the fire season.

From 2020 to 2024, inmate firefighters spent 1,382,117 hours fighting fires for $1 per hour, according to a bill analysis by legislative staff. The state would have paid about $10 million in wages — or about $8.6 million more — had the federal minimum wage been in place over those five fire seasons, analysts said.

Years with more fire activity would be more expensive for the state. In 2020, the largest wildfire season in modern history, the state spent about $2.1 million on inmate firefighter wages at $1 per hour, which would have cost $15 million under the new bill language.

The bill follows years of effort to help improve the working conditions of inmate firefighters.

The number of inmates working on fire crews has shrunk by more than half since 2005, from a peak of about 4,250 that year to slightly less than 2,000 this year, according to the corrections department.

The number fell off sharply after the California policy known as realignment in 2011, which shifted many people who were convicted of nonserious, nonviolent and nonsexual offenses from California state prisons to county jails.

California bars people with a felony conviction from receiving an emergency medical technician, or EMT, certification for a decade after their release from prison. There is a lifetime ban for those convicted of two or more felonies.

In 2020, Newsom signed a bill allowing formerly incarcerated firefighters who were convicted of nonviolent, nonsexual offenses to appeal a court to expunge their criminal records and waive their parole time.

The Legislature this week also passed AB 218, by Assemblymembers Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and Sade Elhawary (D-Los Angeles), which would require prison officials to draft rules by 2027 to recommend incarcerated firefighters for resentencing.

A number of other bills dealing with fire issues are still pending in the Legislature in its final week of the year. Those include:

• AB 226, which would allow the California FAIR Plan, the state’s home insurer of last resort, to increase its capacity to pay out claims by issuing bonds or seeking a line of credit.
• AB 1032, which would require healthcare insurers to cover 12 visits a year with a licensed behavioral health provider, including mental health and substance abuse counselors, to residents affected by wildfires.

HEATHROW airport has evacuated passengers and shut down a terminal as fire crews rush to the scene.

Emergency services were called to the major airport at around 5pm.

A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said: “Firefighters are responding to a possible hazardous materials incident at Heathrow Airport.

“Specialist crews have been deployed to carry out an assessment of the scene, and part of the airport has been evacuated as a precaution whilst firefighters respond.

“The brigade was first called about the incident at 17:01, and crews from Feltham, Heathrow, Wembley and surrounding fire stations have been sent to the scene.”

A spokesperson from Heathrow Airport said: “Terminal 4 check in has been closed and evacuated while emergency services respond to an incident.

“We are asking passengers not to travel to Terminal 4 and supporting those on site.”

The spokesperson said all other terminals are operating as normal.

“Trains are unable to call at Heathrow Terminal 4 due to the emergency services dealing with an incident,” National Rail added in a post on X.

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A HUGE blaze has erupted at the old BBC Television Centre.

Around 100 firefighters are at the scene on Wood Lane in White City, west London, with families evacuated from their homes.

The cause of the fire is unknown, according to the London Fire Brigade.

Emergency calls were made at around 3.08am on Saturday.

In a statement, LFB said: “The building is nine storeys and the fire is currently affecting floors towards the top of the building.

“A restaurant, external decking and ducting is currently alight. An unknown number of flats have also potentially been affected by the fire.”

It added: “A rest centre is being set up for residents who have been evacuated from their homes.”

Wood Lane is currently closed to traffic and pedestrians.

Do you know more? Email [email protected]

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Aug. 30 (UPI) — Two firefighters helping to fight a wildfire in Washington state were arrested this week by federal immigration officials, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed.

The two Mexican nationals were arrested and detained by federal agents around a mile from the frontline of the Bear Gulch wildfire in Olympic National Forest.

The blaze was first reported on July 6, has burned more than 9,200 acres and was 13% contained, according to the latest update from the Washington state fire officials.

The fire is currently the largest actively burning in Washington state.

Federal officials pulled aside 44 people to verify their identity this week, ultimately arresting the two men.

The fire’s Incident Management Team later said the arrests did not hinder firefighting capabilities.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrests in a post on X, but said the two men were not frontline firefighters.

“The two contracted work crews questioned on the day of their arrests were not even assigned to actively fight the fire; they were there in a support role, cutting logs into firewood. The firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time,” the department said in the post.

“No active firefighters were even questioned, and U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not prevent or interfere with any personnel actively engaged in firefighting efforts.”

The arrests come as President Donald Trump‘s administration continues its crackdown against illegal immigration.

“Deeply concerned about this situation with two individuals helping to fight fires in Washington state. I’ve directed my team to get more information about what happened,” Gov. Bob Ferguson, D-Wash., said in a post on X.

“Donald Trump ran his campaign on sending out the worst of the worst. I’m not sure who’s more the best of the best than our firefighters, actively fighting the largest fire in Washington,” Ferguson said in a separate post.

SEATTLE — Lawyers are demanding the release of a longtime Oregon resident arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol while fighting a Washington state wildfire, saying that the firefighter was on track for legal status after helping federal investigators solve a crime against his family.

His arrest was illegal, the lawyers said Friday, and violated Department of Homeland Security policies that say immigration enforcement must not be conducted at locations where emergency responses are happening.

He is one of two firefighters arrested last week while working the Bear Gulch fire in the Olympic National Forest, which as of Friday had burned about 14 square miles and was only 13% contained, forcing evacuations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Thursday that it had been helping the Bureau of Land Management with a criminal investigation of two contractors working at the fire when it discovered two firefighters who it said were in the country without permanent legal status.

The firefighter, whose name and country of origin have not been made public, has lived in the U.S. for 19 years after arriving with his family at age 4. He received a U visa certification from the U.S. attorney’s office in Oregon in 2017 and submitted his U visa application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the following year.

The U visa program was established by Congress to protect victims of serious crimes who assist federal investigators, and the man has been waiting since 2018 for the immigration agency to decide on his application, according to Stephen Manning, a lawyer with Innovation Law Lab, a Portland-based nonprofit that’s representing the firefighter.

Another Homeland Security policy says agents can’t detain people who are receiving or have applied for victim-based immigration benefits, his lawyer said. Charging the man with an immigration violation was “an illegal after-the-fact justification” given his U visa status, the attorney said.

His lawyers said Friday that they located him in the immigration detention system and were able to make contact. They were still processing information and are demanding his immediate release, they told the Associated Press in an email.

A senior Homeland Security official said in a statement to the AP on Friday that the two men apprehended were not firefighters and were not actively fighting the fire. Officials said they were providing a supporting role by cutting logs into firewood.

“The firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time,” the statement said. “No active firefighters were even questioned, and U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not prevent or interfere with any personnel actively engaged in firefighting efforts.”

When the U.S. Bureau of Land Management was asked to provide information about why its contracts with two companies were terminated and 42 firefighters were escorted away from the state’s largest wildfire, it declined to answer. It would only say it cooperates with other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.

“These law enforcement professionals contribute to broader federal enforcement efforts by maintaining public safety, protecting natural resources, and collaborating with the agencies, such as the Border Patrol,” Interior Department spokesperson Alyse Sharpe told the AP in an email.

Manning said in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that the arrest violated Homeland Security policy.

Wyden was critical of the Border Patrol’s operation, saying the Trump administration was more concerned about conducting raids on fire crews than protecting communities from catastrophic fires. Firefighters put their lives on the line, Wyden emphasized, including the Oregon firefighter who died Sunday while battling a wildfire in southwestern Montana.

“The last thing that wildland firefighter crews need is to be worried about masked individuals trampling their due process rights,” Wyden said in an email to the AP.

Meanwhile, wildfire officials were still trying to get control of the Bear Gulch fire. The number of personnel working on the blaze was listed at 303 on Friday, down from 349 a day earlier.

Bellisle writes for the Associated Press.

Border patrol officers swoop in, make arrests as firefighters prepare to tackle 3,600-hectare blaze in Washington State.

Two firefighters who were part of a crew trying to help put out a wildfire in the US state of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula were taken into custody by United States Border Patrol agents, federal authorities said.

The US Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol said in a statement on Thursday that border patrol agents found that two of the workers, who were hired by private firefighting contractors, were in the US illegally and detained them during the operation to put out the blaze.

It was reported that federal agents held crews from private fire contractors for several hours on Wednesday as they were preparing to help tackle the 9,000-acre (3,600-hectare) Bear Gulch Fire in Washington state.

The immigration raid was unusual in that such operations have customarily not been carried out around natural disasters or sites of emergency, according to reports.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said its officers were requested by forestry rangers to verify the names provided on contractor firefighter rosters.

“Several discrepancies were identified, and two individuals were found to be present in the United States illegally, one with a previous order of removal,” CBP said in a statement.

Authorities also said the US Bureau of Land Management terminated contracts with two contractor firms at the site and escorted their 42 firefighter staff off federal land.

The two firefighters without proper documentation were arrested and taken into custody on charges of illegal entry and re-entry to the US.

During the arrests, border patrol agents reportedly lined the 44 firefighters up and ordered them to produce identification, according to The Seattle Times, with crew members telling how they were not allowed to film the encounter.

“You risked your life out here to save the community,” one firefighter, who was not named, told the paper.

“This is how they treat us.”

Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden posted on the social media site X that one of the arrested firefighters was from his state and denounced the immigration arrest, saying it made communities less safe.

Washington’s Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson said he was seeking details about the immigration operation.

“Deeply concerned about this situation with two individuals helping to fight fires in Washington state,” he wrote on social media.

The Bear Gulch Fire erupted in July, caused by human activity, official information shows. Just 13 percent of the blaze has been contained as it continues “creeping” through mature conifer woodland.

TWO more ferocious forest fires have erupted in Portugal – and this time cops suspect the work of arsonists.

Entire villages were forced to evacuate and hundreds of firefighters rushed to the scene of the latest blazes in a disastrous summer across the Iberian Peninsula.

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The two fires sparked nearby within an hour in Pedrógão Grande, central Portugal.

Locals here are already scarred by the memory of a terrible wildfire which killed 66 people just eight years ago.

The first erupted in the village of Pedrógão Grande, terrifyingly close to people’s homes, at around 2:30pm.

A second then burst through trees near the village of Graça at roughly 3:20pm, rousing the suspicion of police who are investigating possible foul play.

Flaming material was reported shooting out of this blaze, endangering the crews tackling it.

Five entire villages in the area were forced to evacuate as smoke cascaded into the sky.

Hundreds of firefighters battled the two blazes with from planes and from the ground.

A firefighter elsewhere in Portugal became the fourth person to be killed by the fires this summer.

Four have also lost their lives in Spain – where the blazes are finally being brought under control.

Daniel Esteves, 45, worked for the forest protection company Afocelca.

He was seriously injured on Tuesday night alongside four colleagues, and tragically died on Saturday.

Daniel suffered burns to 75 percent of his body and was the worst injured of the group – the rest of whom are still in hospital in Coimbra.

Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, sent his condolences to Daniel’s family who “tragically lost his life after directly combating the forest fires in Sabugal municipality”.

The amount of land burnt across the Iberian peninsula has hit a total area about the size of the US state of Delaware, based on EU statistics.

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Spain had lost a record 403,000 hectares, while Portugal lost 278,000 hectares this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

Spanish authorities said the tide seemed to have turned in the fight against the fires, which are mainly raging in the country’s west and northwest.

But the head of Spain’s civil protection and emergencies service, Virginia Barcones, warned there were still 18 “treacherous” blazes alight.

The record-breaking year has been fuelled by dry conditions, heatwaves and strong winds.

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Aug. 11 (UPI) — Scottish firefighters were battling a blaze that ignited on Arthur’s Seat, a extinct volcano in Edinburgh, officials said.

Local authorities said they were notified of the blaze at about 4 p.m. local time Sunday.

“Operations control mobilized four fire appliances and specialist resources to the area where firefighters are working to extinguish a fire affecting a large area of gorse,” the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement.

“There are no reported casualties at this time and crews remain at the scene.”

Videos of the fire shared online show smoke billowing from the mountain and a fire spreading near its crest.

The cause of the blaze was unknown.

Police in Edinburgh are advising motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area.

“Please take care anyone in the vicinity of the Arthur’s Seat fire,” Chris Murray, a member of Parliament for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, said on X.

Arthur’s Seat is about 823 feet above sea level and is a landmark within Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park, which is a short walk from the city’s historic downtown. According to Historic Environment Scotland, a climb to the top of the volcano gives a 360-degree view of Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The worst blaze in the town of Keratea on the outskirts of Athens was contained but not out on Saturday, fire brigade spokesperson says.

At least one person has been killed while homes and farmland were destroyed as wildfires stoked by ferocious winds broke out across Greece.

The worst blaze broke out in the small town of Keratea, southwest of Athens, where firefighters discovered the body of a man in a burned-out structure on Friday.

A fire brigade spokesperson said early on Saturday that the fire there was under control but not out, the Reuters news agency reported, as evacuations of at-risk areas continued with strong winds expected to last through the weekend.

Greece and other Mediterranean countries are in an area dubbed “a wildfire hotspot” by scientists, with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years due to a fast-changing climate, prompting calls for a new approach.

Much of the region around Athens has had barely a drop of rain in months.

More than 200 firefighters backed by 11 water bombers and seven helicopters were deployed to battle the Keratea blaze, Costas Tsigkas, head of the association of Greek firefighter officers, told ERT state television.

“It’s a difficult fire,” he said, citing gusts of wind and reporting that several communities had been evacuated.

Wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) fanned the flames around Keratea on Friday, setting olive orchards alight. Homes were engulfed as locals wearing face masks assisted firefighters. Police went door to door late at night making sure that homes had been evacuated.

Dozens of people were evacuated late Friday from homes and an elderly care centre as the flames neared the nearby coastal resort of Palea Fokea.

Much of the Keratea area smouldered on Saturday morning, and images on local media showed houses gutted by fire.

Other blazes in the region of Ancient Olympia and on the island of Kefalonia appeared to have abated also.

Gale-force winds on Friday also caused the deaths of two Vietnamese tourists who fell into the sea at Sarakiniko beach on the Cycladic island of Milos.

The 61-year-old woman and 65-year-old man were on a cruise ship group visiting the beach, the Greek coastguard said.

“The man and woman were found unconscious in the sea and were taken to the local health centre,” a coastguard spokesperson said.

“The woman fell in the water and the man apparently tried to save her.”

The national weather service EMY said winds of up to 74 kilometres per hour (46 miles per hour) were forecast for Saturday, and the civil protection ministry placed several areas under the highest alert for wildfires, including the Attica region, which includes Athens.

The weather on Friday disrupted ferry travel for tens of thousands of people. A sailing ban on Athens ports was lifted on Saturday.

Local media report that 24 firefighters and rescuers were trapped by the wildfire, and that victims were ‘burned alive’.

At least 10 firefighters and rescue workers were killed and 14 others injured while battling a wildfire in Turkiye’s northwestern Eskisehir province, authorities said, as several fires rage in central and western areas of the country where temperatures are soaring.

Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli said on Wednesday that five forestry workers and five rescuers trying to tackle the blaze were killed when 24 firefighters became trapped in the wildfire earlier in the day.

Winds whipped up by the flames suddenly changed direction, and the fire engulfed the group of firefighters, who were swiftly transported to hospital, where 10 of them died.

Fourteen others are still receiving medical treatment, the minister said.

“Unfortunately, we have lost five forest workers and five [rescuers],” Yumakli told Turkish television broadcasters.

Turkish news website BirGun reported that the group were trapped by the fire and “burned alive”.

Local lawmaker Nebi Hatipoglu wrote on X that there are “no words to describe our grief”.

Turkiye has been sweltering since Sunday under high temperatures and strong winds that have fanned wildfires between Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, with the spreading blazes threatening homes and forcing the evacuation of several villages.

Minister Yumakli said extreme heat and volatile wind conditions were also expected on Thursday.

“Starting tomorrow, we are facing extraordinary temperatures and extreme wind shifts. Once again, I call on all 86 million citizens to be vigilant and exercise extra caution,” he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the victims who fought “to protect our forests at cost of their lives”.

“I pray for God’s mercy on our brothers and sisters who fought at the cost of their lives to protect our forests, and I offer my condolences to their families and our nation,” Erdogan said in a message posted on social media.

Two prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the incident, the country’s justice minister said.

The deaths on Wednesday bring the number of deaths in wildfires so far in the country to 13 this year.

An elderly man and two forestry workers were killed in a wildfire that raged near the town of Odemis, in the Izmir province, earlier this month.

In January, as wildfires tore through greater Los Angeles, more than 7,500 emergency personnel mobilized — confronting searing heat and extreme winds, trying to contain the devastation.

Among them stood an Olympic gold medalist and a professional soccer champion.

L.A. County firefighters David Walters and Erin Regan, former athletes who were among the 7,500 emergency personnel who responded to the January wildfires in Southern California, earned them this year’s Pat Tillman Award for Service that will be presented at the ESPY Awards.

The award — named after Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals safety who left the NFL to enlist in the Army following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and was killed in action — celebrates those with deep ties to sports who have served others, embodying Tillman’s legacy.

Years before joining the fire department, Walters helped the U.S. win the 4×200-meter freestyle relay gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. He swam the lead leg in the preliminaries, helping the team set an Olympic record that paved the way for a world-record win in the final.

During the fires, Walters recounted the exhausting conditions as crews fought blazes that scorched nearly 38,000 acres — claiming the lives of 30 people and destroying homes, businesses and landmarks in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.

“We’re pretty much trying to keep what is left here standing,” Walters told NewsNation. “So we’re not laying down. We’re staying in our position — that’s correct, I did sleep on top of the hose bed last night, just staying ready to do what we can still do.”

Walters told ESPN he is honored to serve Los Angeles.

“This has been a challenging year, but also a rewarding one as we watched the Los Angeles community come together to support their neighbors,” he said in ESPN’s award announcement.

Regan, who joined the department in 2008, once anchored the Washington Freedom to a Women’s United Soccer Assn. title following a stellar goalkeeping career at Wake Forest, where she earned first-team All-ACC honors and broke multiple school records.

Outside of firehouse duties, Regan champions female representation in the fire service. She co-founded Girls’ Fire Camp, a one-day program introducing young girls to firefighting, and launched the Women’s Fire Prep Academy, offering mentorship and hands-on training for aspiring female firefighters.

“My career choice was inspired by my family’s history of public service, so receiving this award is a tribute to the many great influences that shaped my upbringing,” Regan said in ESPN’s award announcement. “As first responders, we take pride in hard work and serving others, and I’m truly humbled to be recognized alongside incredible heroes like Pat Tillman.”

The ESPYs, hosted by comedian Shane Gillis, will air on ABC and stream on ESPN+ on July 16 at 8 p.m. PDT.

Two firefighters were killed by gunfire while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, a lakeside town in the northwestern US state of Idaho.

The local sheriff’s office reported that a shelter-in-place order was lifted on Sunday night after a tactical team found the body of a man with a firearm nearby. The dead man is believed to be the suspect.

Officials did not disclose his identity or specify the type of weapon recovered.

What happened in Idaho, and when?

Officials said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain in the city at about 1:22pm (20:22 GMT), and gunshots were reported about a half hour later at 2pm (21:00 GMT).

Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said the shooter used high-powered sporting rifles to open rapid fire on first responders.

Two firefighters were killed and, according to authorities, a third one came out of surgery and is in a stable condition but “fighting for his life”.

Norris told reporters on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect intentionally started the fire as “an ambush”.

“We do believe he started it and it was totally intentional what he did,” he added.

However, officials have not spelled out any possible motives for why the suspect might have wanted to ambush the firefighters.

According to reports, more than 300 law enforcement officers and FBI agents responded to the emergency, while police snipers searched the area from helicopters.

Video footage from the area showed smoke rising from forested hillsides, with multiple ambulances and emergency vehicles seen arriving at a local hospital.

Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho. 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. Teresa and I are heartbroken.

As this…

— Brad Little (@GovernorLittle) June 29, 2025

Where exactly did it happen?

The Canfield Mountain area is on the eastern outskirts of Coeur d’Alene. It is a popular 24‑acre (10-hectare) natural space featuring hiking and mountain‑biking trails.

Coeur d’Alene, a city of about 55,000 people, is located roughly 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle.

The mountain is densely covered with trees and thick brush, and its network of trails extends into a national forest.

Who was the shooter?

Based on preliminary evidence, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office believes there was only one shooter involved in the attack. Initially, authorities had suspected there might be as many as four.

Authorities located the suspect after detecting mobile phone activity in the area and tracing the signal.

There, they discovered a man who appeared to be deceased with a weapon found nearby. They did not say how the man died, or what firearm was discovered. Norris said that authorities believe the dead man was the shooter. However, the police have not yet revealed his identity.

Police said a man called 911 to report the fire but said that it was unclear if the caller was the gunman.

Update: pic.twitter.com/S60CnpFsyX

— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 30, 2025

What do we know about the victims?

Kootenai County officials said they would not release the names of the two firefighters who died.

“Their families will need support,” Sheriff Norris said.

“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Idaho Governor Brad Little wrote on Facebook.

Officials said the bodies would be transported in a procession to nearby Spokane, Washington, accompanied by a convoy of official vehicles. One of the firefighters was working with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department; the other served with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.

Is the area now safe? Was the fire controlled?

The shelter-in-place notice was lifted at 03:50 GMT on Monday.

The wildfire on Canfield Mountain scorched approximately 20 acres (81 hectares), Norris said on Sunday, but no structures were lost in the fire, authorities confirmed.

At 03:00  GMT, authorities confirmed that the fire was still burning.

Kootenai County Sheriff says law enforcement officials are taking sniper fire as they hunt for the killer.

At least two people have been killed in the United States after a gunman shot at firefighters responding to a blaze in the state of Idaho, according to officials.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said that crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain, just north of the city of Coeur d’Alene, at about 1:30pm (19:30 GMT) on Sunday, and gunshots were reported about a half hour later.

Sheriff Bob Norris said officials believe the two people killed were fire personnel. He did not know if anyone else was shot.

The sheriff said it was not immediately clear if there was one gunman or more, and urged the public to stay clear of the area.

“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris told reporters. “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”

The Canfield Mountain, an area popular with hikers, is located near Coeur d’Alene, a city of 57,000 people about 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle in Washington state.

Norris said the shooter or shooters were using high-powered sporting rifles to fire rapidly at first responders, and that the perpetrators “are not, at this time, showing any evidence of wanting to surrender”.

The sheriff said it appeared the attacker was hiding in the rugged terrain and using a high-powered rifle. He said he has instructed deputies to fire back.

“If these individuals are not neutralised quickly, this is going to be likely a multi-day operation,” he added.

Idaho Governor Brad Little said “multiple” firefighters were attacked.

“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” he said on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”

Little 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.

Law enforcement is investigating whether the fire could have been intentionally set to lure first responders to the scene, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Jeff Howard told ABC News.

The broadcaster reported that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the shooting.

The FBI said it has sent technical teams and tactical support to the scene.

“It remains an active, and very dangerous scene,” the agency’s deputy director, Dan Bongino, wrote in a post on X.

Gun ownership is widespread in the US, where the country’s Constitution protects the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms”.

Deaths related to gun violence are common. At least 17,927 people were murdered by a gun in 2023 in the US, according to the most recent available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.