LOS ANGELES—A sheriff’s deputy wounded in a gun battle Tuesday afternoon with a man believed to be fugitive former police officer Christopher Dorner has died. Another San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy was wounded in the shootout near Big Bear, Calif.

The cabin in the mountainous area where Dorner was reported to be holed up, surrounded by heavily armed police officers, was “completely engulfed in flames,” the Los Angeles website was reporting.

A law enforcement official, who requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said a single gunshot was heard from inside the cabin was heard just before the fire broke out and Dorner did not emerge from the cabin.

Officials were waiting for the fire to burn out before approaching the ruins to search for a body.

The dramatic denouement to a nearly weeklong manhunt came after law enforcement officers spotted Dorner, sought for three murders last week, in a stolen pickup truck.

He had reportedly broken into a home, tied up a couple and then took the truck. One of the couple was able to escape and phone for help.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller confirmed deputies responded to a report of a stolen vehicle about 12:20 p.m. Tuesday. The resident who reported the theft said the suspect matched Dorner’s description.

The U.S. Forest Service said there was an exchange of gunfire between officers on foot and the suspect in the Santa Ana River drainage, north of State Highway 38 and south of Big Bear Valley.

As the news got out, local television outlets were airing the sounds of gunfire and shouting in live broadcasts from the ski resort area, east of Los Angeles. Eventually police ordered all nonpolice aircraft out of the area.

Lat week, Dorner, who had been fired from the Los Angeles police force in 2009, allegedly threatened “unconventional and asymmetrical warfare” against police in a lengthy manifesto that authorities say he recently posted on Facebook.

The posting named dozens of potential targets, including police officers, whom Dorner allegedly threatened to attack.

Officers had been criss-crossing California for days pursuing the more than 1,000 tips that poured in about Dorner’s possible whereabouts, including efforts in Tijuana, Mexico, San Diego County and Big Bear.

The search focused on Big Bear last week after Dorner’s burning truck was found on a local forest road. At its height, more than 200 officers combed the mountain, checking cabins one by one. It was scaled back Sunday. About 30 officers were out in the field Tuesday.

Records state Dorner’s manifesto was discovered by authorities last Wednesday, three days after the slaying of a couple in Irvine: Monica Quan and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence.

Quan was the daughter of a retired LAPD captain whom Dorner allegedly blamed in part for his firing from the force in 2009.

Then on early Thursday, in Riverside County, a police officer was grazing by a bullet. About 30 minutes later, Dorner allegedly opened fire on two police officers who were now searching for him.

Riverside Officer Michael Crain, 34, a married father of two who served two tours in Kuwait in the Marines, was killed in the attack. His partner remains hospitalized.

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Dorner was charged Monday with one count of murder, with special-circumstance allegations in the killing of a peace officer and the discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, in connection with Crain’s death. He faces three additional charges of attempted murder.

Riverside District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said Dorner might be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.