DHS: Arrests at Bear Gulch Fire Were Not That of Firefighters
News broke earlier this week that Border Patrol agents had arrested two firefighters at the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula.
Now the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is criticizing media reports and clarifying that the arrests they made were of workers in a support role, not directly fighting the wildfire.
The Seattle Times reported on Wednesday that two people fighting the Bear Gulch fire were detained by federal law enforcement — a story that sparked outrage among Washington lawmakers and was picked up by the national media.
Border Patrol issued a statement Thursday saying that the arrests of two people who were in the country illegally did not interfere with firefighting operations or active fire response, and that it didn’t endanger the community.
Then on Friday, a senior DHS official issued a fresh statement refuting the claim that firefighters had been arrested at all.
“The two illegal aliens apprehended were NOT firefighters,” the official said in an emailed statement.
The Seattle Times reported that two private contractor crews were among the “400 people including firefighters deployed to fight the wildfire, the largest active blaze in Washington state.” On Wednesday, the crews were directed to cut wood for the community.
Federal law enforcement showed up as crews waited for their division supervisor to arrive, the Times reported. Then, over the span of three hours, federal agents demanded that members of the two crews produce identification.
DHS on Friday said that the two crews questioned on the day of the arrests were there cutting logs into firewood, in a support role; they were not assigned to actively combat the blaze, the statement said.
“The firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time,” the senior DHS official said. “No active firefighters were even questioned, and U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not prevent or interfere with any personnel actively engaged in firefighting efforts.”
The official added that the “mainstream media is once again spreading fake news about federal law enforcement efforts.” The two illegal aliens apprehended were NOT firefighters. The two contracted work crews questioned on the day of their arrests were not even assigned to actively fight the fire; they were there in a support role, cutting logs into firewood. The firefighting response remained… pic.twitter.com/hr5LpcH340 — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 29, 2025
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