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

Roley had no known criminal record. Local police had five recent minor and non-violent interactions with Roley, whereby they asked him to move his vehicle from where he was parked.