SEATTLE (AP) — Two firefighters were taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents during a multi-agency criminal investigation into two contractors who had provided a 44-person crew to help fight a wildland blaze on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, federal authorities said Thursday.
The Bureau of Land Management asked the Border Patrol to help check the workers’ identities Wednesday when crews were working in a remote area, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement. Border Patrol agents found two workers who were in the U.S. illegally and detained them, the agencies said.
Federal authorities did not provide information about the investigation into the contractors, and did not immediately respond to questions seeking details about the criminal case.
The BLM terminated the contracts with Table Rock Forestry Inc. and ASI Arden Solutions Inc. — both from Oregon — and escorted the 42 workers off federal land, the release said. The two arrested were taken to the Bellingham station on charges of illegal entry and reentry, authorities said.
Email and phone messages left Thursday for the two businesses seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Initial reports saying firefighters had been arrested by federal agents sparked outrage from Sen. Patty Murray. Several firefighters who witnessed the incident had told The Seattle Times anonymously that federal agents took two firefighters into custody.
Murray responded to the news on Thursday by saying the Trump administration has undercut wildland firefighting by “decimating the Forest Service” and their immigration policy “is fundamentally sick.”
“Here in the Pacific Northwest, wildfires can, and have, burned entire towns to the ground,” the Democrat said in a statement. “This new Republican policy to detain firefighters on the job is as immoral as it is dangerous.”
U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rosario Vasquez said in the statement that the effort highlights the coordination between federal agencies to ensure the integrity of government operations.
“U.S. Border Patrol steadfastly enforces the laws of the United States and unapologetically addresses violations of immigration law wherever they are encountered," Vasquez said.
The crews were helping with the Bear Gulch Fire, which has burned about 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) on the north side of Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Forest and National Park. It was 13 percent contained by Thursday afternoon.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden posted on the social media site X that one of the arrested firefighters was from Oregon and his office was working to find him. The man is represented by lawyers with the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab and they have been unable to locate them.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said he was “deeply concerned” about the news, adding that firefighters help keep communities safe. He said his team has reached out to the federal agencies to get more information and “to question why the Trump administration's cruel immigration policies now extend to individuals fighting forest fires.”
Jennifer Risdal, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service’s Incident Management Team overseeing the firefighting efforts, said they were aware of the Border Patrol activities at the fire site but offered no information about what happened.
“The Border Patrol operation is not interfering with firefighting activity and Bear Gulch firefighters continue to make progress on the fire,” Risdal told The Associated Press in an email.
During the first Trump administration, DHS issued a statement during the 2020 wildfire season saying CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were concerned about the impact the fires could have on Western states and said their highest priority was “the preservation of life and safety.”
“In consideration of these circumstances, there will be no immigration enforcement initiatives associated with evacuations or sheltering related to the wildfires, except in the event of a serious public safety threat,” the statement said.
Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove, whose agency oversees Washington's wildland firefighting efforts, said he was aware of the enforcement actions at the Bear Gulch Fire.
“While we don’t have all of the details yet, this is all occurring at a time when the Trump administration’s crude and inhumane approach to immigration enforcement has intentionally and unnecessarily stoked fear and mistrust among members of the public — including firefighters putting their lives on the line to protect our state,” he said.
Martha Bellisle, The Associated Press
