09/02/2026
HONORING COURAGE, SACRIFICE AND SERVICE
Today, the State of Idaho recognized extraordinary courage and sacrifice by presenting the Idaho Medal of Honor to five North Idaho first responders for their heroic actions during the June 29, 2025, Canfield Mountain tragedy.
Northern Lakes Fire Protection District Captain Ernst “Fritz” Wiedenhoff, Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Engineer David Tysdal, and Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Harvey Ballman, Arek Brock and Joshua Orr were honored for their actions during the ambush of first responders responding to the Canfield Mountain wildland fire.
According to the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, Captain Wiedenhoff lost radio contact with the ambushed firefighters and moved to their position, where he found them trapped. Under active gunfire, he crawled to a working radio and warned incoming responders and law enforcement of the danger. He then held the command post, providing critical information to dispatch and tactical resources until the area could be secured for rescue and medical crews.
Engineer Tysdal was establishing a water supply for the firefighting operation when he was shot in the back and immediately paralyzed. With the shooter still active and despite his grievous injuries, Engineer Tysdal used the only part of his body he could still move, keying his radio with his chin to warn other responders of the ambush, knowing that doing so could draw the shooter’s attention back toward him.
Deputy Ballman, a SWAT team member, arrived with his K-9 and called for a BearCat armored tactical vehicle and additional SWAT resources. Deputies Brock and Orr responded, and together the three developed a plan and moved up the mountain, using SWAT tactics to suppress the shooter. They took additional gunfire while extracting a wounded firefighter and returned suppressive fire.
The three deputies drove up the mountain three separate times, leaving the protection of the armored vehicle each time to reach injured firefighters and trapped residents and bring them down to waiting medical personnel.
These extraordinary acts of courage, performed while lives remained in immediate danger, are why these five first responders were honored today with the Idaho Medal of Honor.
We also recognize all of the Northern Lakes firefighters, Coeur D’Alene Fire and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue who responded on June 29, 2025. Several of those members were able to attend today’s ceremony, joined by fellow Northern Lakes firefighters, officers and chiefs. We are grateful for their service that day and throughout the difficult days and months that followed.
Today is also, and always will be, a day of remembrance.
We remember Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison and Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Frank Harwood, who were killed in the line of duty on June 29, 2025. We continue to remember their families, their departments and everyone whose lives were forever changed that day.
Our gratitude extends to the tremendous number of agencies and first responders who answered the call — the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, Kootenai County Fire & Rescue, Kootenai County 911 Dispatch and the many other fire, EMS, law enforcement and support agencies that responded.
We also thank the agencies that stepped forward to handle emergency calls throughout our communities while resources were committed to the incident, and the fire departments that later sent crews and apparatus to cover Northern Lakes Fire District so our members could attend the memorial together.
And finally, thank you to our community.
For more than a year, you have stood beside our firefighters, our law enforcement partners, our neighboring departments and the families affected by this tragedy. The messages, meals, acts of kindness, words of encouragement and continued support have meant more than we can adequately express.
June 29, 2025, is a day we will never forget.
We remember those we lost.
We honor those who ran toward danger.
We recognize the courage of everyone who answered the call.
And we remain forever grateful to the community that stood beside us.
