
(CNN) -- At least two firefighters died when they were shot at the scene of a blaze in upstate New York on Monday, police said.
Two other firefighters were injured, police in Webster, New York, told reporters.
Authorities believe one or more shooters took aim at the firefighters after they left their vehicles, Police Chief Gerald Pickering said.
It was unclear whether there were any suspects.
"We have different individuals that were possible people with knowledge, but at this point I can't really comment," Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn told reporters.
For hours, the gunfire stopped firefighters from working to extinguish the fire and forced police SWAT teams to evacuate homes in the area.
Firefighters first arrived before 6 a.m., said Rob Boutillier, Webster's fire marshal. By 9 a.m., flames had engulfed three houses and a vehicle, he said.
"It's still an active crime scene," Pickering said. "We have firefighters there at the location. It took a while to make it safe ... to put out the fires."
Doctors were treating the wounded firefighters Monday morning, said Teri D'Agostino, a spokeswoman for Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. They were in guarded condition, she said.
One firefighter escaped from the scene in his own vehicle about an hour after he was shot, then was taken to the hospital by an ambulance from another location, Boutillier said. He was listed in satisfactory condition, Boutillier said.
Another wounded firefighter was conscious and speaking when he was removed from the scene, Boutillier said.
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I had thought the first was maybe to cover up a crime scene, and then the shootings to prevent the fire from doing its job, but local PD are thinking that the fire was set as a trap to target first responders. :(
The shooter is also confirmed dead.
For updates, I'd check out @13Wham and @EvanDawson on Twitter.
Where in ROC are you? I live in Newark now, but I lived in Farmington for awhile and went to grad school @ Fisher.
It happened 3 blocks from my house. I spent the morning hiding in my basement hoping the shooter didn't decide to make a run for it through my back yard.
In a weird way, this reminds me of how I felt on 9/11 and afterwards. That was *my* governor giving updates and interviews, and with this... even though I'm about 30-40 minutes away, this is my local news and Rochester's essentially my hometown. It's like... this is awful. Webster is a nice town, it's just like... this shit can happen fucking anywhere.