Firefighters were ambushed by a gunman while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Sunday, according to the local sheriff's office.

Two firefighters were shot dead and a third wounded on an Idaho mountain when they were ambushed by a man who set the fire to lure them to the area, the local sheriff says.

Authorities say firefighters who rushed to put out a blaze in a northern Idaho mountain community found themselves instead in an unexpected shootout.