Federal agents arrested two firefighters working to contain a wildfire in Washington state, according to reports.
The Seattle Times reported that on Wednesday, first responders were detained during a Border Patrol operation.
The incident occurred while two private contractor crews were cutting wood for the local community. At around 9:30 a.m. local time, federal agents showed up and ordered the crews to supply their identification.
Two first responders were ultimately arrested, though it’s unclear why.
On Thursday, 400 people, comprised of private crews and firefighters, had been deployed to battle the blaze.
Officials in charge of the Bear Gulch Fire said in a statement that they “are aware of a Border Patrol operation here.” The statement continued, “The Border Patrol operation is not interfering with firefighting activity, and Bear Gulch firefighters continue to make progress on the fire.”
In a statement on Thursday, Washington Sen. Patty Murray demanded answers about the arrests.
“Trump has undercut our wildland firefighting abilities in more ways than one—from decimating the Forest Service and pushing out thousands of critical support staff, to now apparently detaining firefighters on the job,” Murray said, per CNN.
“This administration’s immigration policy is fundamentally sick," she continued. "Trump has wrongfully detained everyone from lawful green card holders to American citizens—no one should assume this was necessary or appropriate.”
Amid an intense heat wave, the Bear Gulch Fire has burned almost 9,000 acres in the Olympic National Forest since July 6, and, as of Thursday, is only 13 percent contained.
During the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security had a policy against conducting immigration operations “at locations where disaster and emergency response and relief is being provided.” It’s unclear if that policy is being enforced under Trump.