As a wildfire began to sow panic in a small northern Idaho mountain community, a group of firefighters who rushed to put out the blaze instead found themselves in an unexpected shootout.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that the suspect in the Canfield Mountain shooting, which killed two Idaho firefighters, also intentionally started the fire that brought emergency crews to the area.

A man who had intentionally set the fire to ambush the crew on Sunday was perched in a sniper position, firing at the firefighters. They took cover behind firetrucks, but two died and a third was wounded during a barrage of gunfire over several hours, authorities said.