Kootenai County fire agencies plan public memorial for slain firefighters

Kootenai County Fire & Rescue and the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department will bring the community back to McEuen Park on June 29 for a public remembrance of battalion chiefs John G. Morrison and Frank J. Harwood, the firefighters killed in the Canfield Mountain ambush. The ceremony is set for 10 a.m. at the Avista Pavilion, and McEuen Park will remain open as the public is invited to attend. For two agencies still marked by the attack, the memorial will turn private grief into a visible act of remembrance in the center of Coeur d'Alene.

Morrison joined the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department in 1996 and was 52 when he died. Harwood joined Kootenai County Fire & Rescue in 2007 and was 42. Both were killed June 29, 2025, when an intentionally set brush fire on Canfield Mountain drew responders into an ambush. Coeur d'Alene firefighter/engineer David Tysdal was critically wounded in the same attack and later retired.

The blaze burned about 23 acres and drew more than 300 local, state and federal officers into the response and manhunt. Authorities identified the suspected shooter as 20-year-old Wess Val Roley, who died after the search. The scale of the response, and the violence that triggered it, left a lasting imprint on both fire departments and on the families who waited through hours of uncertainty.

In the days and weeks after the attack, residents responded with visits to fire stations, processions, roadways lined for the transport of the fallen firefighters to and from Spokane, and donations to the Red and Blue Foundation and the Jeff Welch Foundation. Families also received handmade tributes and help through personal fundraisers, a wave of support that made the loss public far beyond the firehouse.

Fire officials said the June 29 memorial will recognize that response while giving neighbors a chance to pay respects in a setting that remains open to anyone who wants to attend. Public memorial and funeral services for Morrison and Harwood were held July 10 and July 11, 2025, at the Hagadone Event Center, but the anniversary ceremony at McEuen Park will extend that remembrance into one of Coeur d'Alene’s most visible public spaces. For firefighters, survivors and families across Kootenai County, the gathering will stand as both a tribute and a reminder of how the community answered the tragedy.