U.S. Border Patrol arrests firefighters as they battle Washington state wildfire

U.S. Border Patrol say the Bureau of Land Management requested help checking workers’ identities when crews were working in a remote area.

Two firefighters were arrested 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 t