It's been three weeks since Coeur d'Alene erupted into chaos when shots were fired amid a brush fire on Canfield Mountain.

The police radio chatter was dizzying that June 29 afternoon, as were the speculations and social media comments that whirled online. A scene of uncertainty and tragedy unfolded, ultimately claiming the lives of Coeur d'Alene Fire Battalion Chief John Morrison and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Frank Harwood and nearly claiming the life of Coeur d'Alene Fire engineer David Tysdal, who faces a long recovery ahead.

“Within 10 minutes of the radio calls, we started a group chat," Red and Blue Foundation Fundraising and Outreach Director Kassi Allen said Friday.

In 30 minutes, Allen and four board members had arrived at Coeur d'Alene Fire Station No. 4. Another member was already on the way with a trailer.

“Within an hour, we were at Super 1 buying items to take to the mobile command post with Search and Rescue," Allen said.

The Red and Blue Foundation nonprofit is dedicated to providing support for first responders and their families when death, illness and injury occur. As the Canfield incident transpired, its members gathered food and water for the first responders on the frontlines. Once that first round was delivered, they asked what was needed and started the second round.

“It was a minivan and two truckloads, twice,” Allen said.

Red and Blue members stopped by the hospital to inquire about needs, then went to Best Buy and bought phone chargers and other items for first responders and family members who would be at Kootenai Health for an unknown time.

“We did two hospital drops,” Allen said. "It was mainly food and water. We went to Costco, got 20 pizzas, dropped them off at the city fire stations, which is where everyone was kind of mobilizing.”

While they were deploying resources as fast as possible, more resources began pouring in. Allen said $80,000 was donated to the foundation within 24 hours after the incident began.

“That was pretty immediate,” she said. "People right away wanted to help."

Allen's business, Anchored Coffee Company, became a drop-off site.

Another nonprofit, Red and Blue, put up a tent at Anchored's Dalton location to receive monetary donations as well as food and water.

“There’s an overwhelming amount of support from the local community initially,” Red and Blue Foundation Public Information Officer Jared Reneau said. “There’s been a large support regionally and even nationally.” 

As the news spread, so did the support. Donations came from everywhere: Georgia, Florida, Texas, Canada, California.

“That Monday, I got a call from one of the chiefs of police at the New York Police Department, and they wanted to give each family a donation,” Allen said. “We were getting donations from departments that have 10 sworn firefighters that will send $100 because that’s all that’s in their budget, but they’re offering services, ‘Can we come over and help with a home remodel? Can we come over and help staff a station?’ We heard from everyone.”

The Red and Blue board continued to field calls, organize collections and accept donations on behalf of the families. Allen didn't go to Anchored for a week as she put in 12-16-hour days with the foundation.

“Over half of our board drove all over Timbuktu,” she said. “We took meals to 12 fire stations three times a day, coordinating the food drop-offs and not to mention the debriefings. We fed them at those; we were feeding them at family barbecues to make sure they had time to spend together. It was a ton of work. I would do it 10 times again if it meant we took care of these families.”

In the days since, thousands of dollars have been generated by local businesses and organizations through concerts and other fundraisers to provide even more support for the families, the foundation and area first responders.

The total of funds raised at this time won't be disclosed by the foundation out of respect for the families' privacy, but Allen reported that the foundation has received nearly 5,000 individual online donations since the tragedy took place.

“This community is such a beautiful place to live and when tragedy strikes, that really is when you see everyone come together, regardless of their political differences or anything else," Allen said. "We really come together as a community, and we’ve seen it time and time again when tragedy hits.

"Our community truly loves people," she said. "It’s unfortunate that the times you see it are times like this."

Reneau said a big part of the Red and Blue Foundation's work supporting the area's 630 first responders involves mental health.

“We’re working to continue to provide more support," he said. "Obviously, mental health — especially because of this incident and long before this incident — has been an issue for first responders.

“We are very cautious to protect the privacy of the first responders who utilize that service," he continued, "but we’re helping a large number of first responders deal with traumatic incidents that they respond to so they can remain healthy or come back to being healthy to be able to work and live and spend time with their families and be healthy individuals.”

Allen said that for the organization to help as many first responders as possible, it needs donations to the general fund, which is where the daily work is done, as well as support for annual events – the golf tournament, the gala, the hockey game.

“We would love volunteers, items for raffle baskets, people to attend our events and hear what we’re about, the work that we do," she said.

Visit redbluefoundation.org for donation and event details and for more about the Red and Blue Foundation's mission.