Federal authorities arrested two firefighters working on containing the Bear Gulch wildfire in Washington state in what was believed to be an immigration sting.
A spokesperson for the incident management team leading the wildfire containment told the Seattle Times that they were “aware of a Border Patrol operation on the fire” but that it wasn’t interfering with the firefighting response. The operation was reportedly tense and involved expletives exchanged.
Eyewitnesses said the interaction lasted more than three hours. Two people from the 20-person crew combating the wildfire were confronted by officials in vests reading “police,” who told them to line up and show identification. One vehicle marked as a Customs and Border Protection vehicle was seen nearby.
The officers showed up at around 9:30 a.m. local time and waited for their supervisor to arrive.
The officers reportedly told the firefighters not to record the interaction. The reason for the two firefighters’ arrests wasn’t immediately apparent.
As of Thursday, the Bear Gulch wildfire has been burning for nearly two months. It has scorched 9,000 acres with only 13% of the blaze contained.
Gov. Bob Ferguson (D-WA) expressed alarm over the arrests.
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“Deeply concerned about this situation with two individuals helping to fight fires in Washington state. I’ve directed my team to get more information about what happened,” he said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration enforcement strategy, looking to find and deport the millions of illegal immigrants who have crossed the border over the past four years. His immigration enforcement has drawn controversy and extensive legal challenges from Day One.
