Springfield fire, police come under gunfire at house fire

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) – Authorities say a 60-year-old man in Springfield ambushed firefighters who showed up to put out a blaze at a house in a residential neighborhood and fired on police as well before he turned the gun on himself.

Springfield police Lt. Scott McKee told The Register Guard Wednesday that police believe the man set the fire and then began shooting at firefighters when they showed up.

McKee said the suspect had the firefighters pinned down behind their truck as the blaze spread to three other homes.

A police officer who was under fire and hiding behind a car had to be rescued by an armored vehicle.

Three homes were destroyed and a fourth damaged.

No residents were hurt.

It’s not immediately clear if the man lived in one of the houses that burned.

KMTR reported it all started around 4 a.m. Wednesday when an emergency call came in about a structure fire in the 500 block of Oakdale Avenue, part of a densely populated residential neighborhood, McKee said.

According to McKee, when members of Eugene Springfield Fire responded, they encountered a fully involved residential fire and began setting up apparatus, charging hoses, and getting ready to fight the fire when they suddenly came under gunfire.

“The actual fire apparatus got struck with bullets,” said McKee. “They called for emergency assistance and reported they were under gunfire.”

When police arrived, they too came under gunfire by a gunman who McKee said was wandering through the neighborhood close by.

The fire department evacuated the scene, leaving apparatus while the fire was still going.

“So yeah, pretty chaotic,” McKee said. “Thankfully, none of our personnel were hit. None of the fire personnel were hit.”

The Eugene Police Department responded with an armored vehicle and assisted in evacuating some of the personnel while trying to find the shooter.

McKee said the suspect was located in the front yard of a nearby residence.

“Officers heard a shot as they were getting ready to approach him,” McKee explained, “came around the corner and found that he had killed himself with his rifle.”

He said at this point, authorities are confident that he was acting alone.

“We’re acting under the hypothesis that he started this fire with the intent of drawing an emergency response and then ambushing emergency responders,” McKee said.

There were four homes involved in flames. It was earlier reported that two or three were complete losses.

“Really a terrible situation that could have been a heck of a lot worse,” McKee said, “but thankfully, we’re at the cleanup stage right now.”