{"id":105109,"date":"2025-08-29T10:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T10:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/105109\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T10:04:13","slug":"u-s-border-patrol-arrests-firefighters-as-they-battle-washington-state-wildfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/105109\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Border Patrol arrests firefighters as they battle Washington state wildfire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Border Patrol say the Bureau of Land Management requested help checking workers\u2019 identities when crews were working in a remote area.John Moore\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Two firefighters who were part of a 44-person crew fighting a wildland blaze on Washington state\u2019s Olympic Peninsula were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents during a multi-agency criminal investigation into the two contractors they worked for, federal authorities said Thursday.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management asked the Border Patrol to help check the workers\u2019 identities Wednesday when crews were working in a remote area, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the 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.<\/p>\n

Federal authorities did not provide information about the investigation into the contractors, and they did not immediately respond to questions seeking details about the criminal case.<\/p>\n

The BLM terminated the contracts with Table Rock Forestry Inc. and ASI Arden Solutions Inc. \u2013 both from Oregon \u2013 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 re-entry, authorities said.<\/p>\n

E-mail and phone messages left Thursday for the two businesses seeking comment were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n

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Initial reports saying firefighters had been arrested by federal agents sparked outrage from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. Several firefighters who witnessed the incident had told The Seattle Times anonymously that federal agents took two firefighters into custody.<\/p>\n

Murray responded to the news on Thursday by saying the Trump administration has undercut wildland firefighting by \u201cdecimating the Forest Service\u201d and their immigration policy<\/a> \u201cis fundamentally sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in the Pacific Northwest, wildfires<\/a> can, and have, burned entire towns to the ground,\u201d the Democrat said in a statement. \u201cThis new Republican policy to detain firefighters on the job is as immoral as it is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis Lawson, president of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters, told the AP that firefighters work as a team, and losing a member for any reason hurts their ability to serve their communities.<\/p>\n

U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rosario Vasquez said in the statement that the effort highlights the co-ordination between federal agencies to ensure the integrity of government operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cU.S. Border Patrol steadfastly enforces the laws of the United States and unapologetically addresses violations of immigration law wherever they are encountered,\u201d Vasquez said.<\/p>\n

The crews were helping with the Bear Gulch Fire, which has burned about 14 square miles (36 square kilometres) on the north side of Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Forest and National Park. It was 13% contained by Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden posted on the social media site X that one of the arrested firefighters was from Oregon and denounced the arrest, saying it makes communities less safe. The man is represented by lawyers with the non-profit Innovation Law Lab, who said he was unlawfully detained and they have been unable to locate him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe demand that they allow him to access counsel as is his right afforded by the U.S. Constitution,\u201d lawyer Rodrigo Fernandez-Ortega said in an e-mail. \u201cWe have seen entire towns burned to the ground and it is outrageous that the US border patrol unlawfully detained the brave individuals who are protecting us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said he was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d 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 \u201cto question why the Trump administration\u2019s cruel immigration policies now extend to individuals fighting forest fires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer Risdal, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Border Patrol operation is not interfering with firefighting activity and Bear Gulch firefighters continue to make progress on the fire,\u201d Risdal told The Associated Press in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cthe preservation of life and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 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,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove, whose agency oversees Washington\u2019s wildland firefighting efforts, said he was aware of the enforcement actions at the Bear Gulch Fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we don\u2019t have all of the details yet, this is all occurring at a time when the Trump administration\u2019s crude and inhumane approach to immigration enforcement has intentionally and unnecessarily stoked fear and mistrust among members of the public \u2013 including firefighters putting their lives on the line to protect our state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: U.S. Border Patrol say the Bureau of Land Management requested help checking workers\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-105109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}