“On a structure fire nobody would expect that a person would be shooting at either police or firefighters," Eriks Gabliks, the director of Oregon's Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST), told KATU on Wednesday.
But in Springfield police said it happened Wednesday morning. Officers said 65-year-old Lance Jacobs set fire to his home on Oakdale Avenue, then shot at police and firefighters before killing himself.
All Oregon firefighters and law enforcement officers are trained at DPSST's Public Safety Academy in Salem, where they learn several tactics though not specifically what to do if someone shoots at them during a house fire.
But after what happened in Springfield the agency is now considering adding to its curriculum.
Bullet holes riddled the windshield of a fire truck in Springfield Wednesday after firefighters endured a terrifying ordeal when they arrived to battle a house fire at around 4 a.m.