Fire in the Forest - Handcuffs on Duty: How Trump’s Border Agents Arrest Firefighters While Washington Burns

It is an image one would expect more from a dictatorship than from the United States: While flames devour the forests of the Olympic Peninsula, suddenly masked federal agents appear, check IDs and take two men away - men who are not on the run but fighting the Bear Gulch fire with pickaxe and hose. Two firefighters from contract crews, in the middle of their mission, were led away in handcuffs. The Bear Gulch fire, which has spread to nearly 9,000 acres, is considered the largest blaze in Washington State so far this year. Only 13 percent was under control at the time of the arrests. Every hand, every axe, every hose counted. But while the flames raged, Trump’s border agents chose a show of force: ID checks in the middle of the fire. Eyewitnesses report the federal agents acted aggressively, forbade filming, and barked at one firefighter with a sharp “Get the f-k out of here.” Then they arrested two men who were part of the handcrews working for private contractors. Officially, it was later said that the firefighting was not affected. But the truth sounds different. Several firefighters who spoke anonymously to the Seattle Times reported shock, insecurity and distraction - and that is extremely dangerous in the middle of a major wildfire. When the fire wall is rolling toward the crews, not a single moment can be lost. The U.S. Forest Service confirmed that it knew of the operation but gave no details. “The work of the crews continues, they are making progress,” it said flatly in an email. But this progress had to be fought for by men and women whose thoughts were no longer only on the fire but also on the question of whether they might be the next ones to be taken away in handcuffs.

The political reaction did not take long. Senator Patty Murray spoke of a “fundamentally sick policy” and accused the Trump administration of undermining the firefighting forces while entire towns in the Northwest were at risk of burning down. Governor Bob Ferguson immediately ordered investigations, while representatives like Pramila Jayapal called the actions “absurd” and “against the common good.” Yet under the Biden administration there had been a clear directive: no immigration enforcement at fire sites except in cases of immediate public safety threats. Whether that directive has been officially lifted remains unclear - but in practice the Trump administration has created facts. The parallels are unmistakable: Already in July, in California, doctors and hospital staff were targeted when they tried to shield patients as ICE agents without a warrant tried to drag people out of operating rooms. Now it is firefighters who are being criminalized for their work. People who risk their lives to save others - and suddenly find themselves the target of the deportation machinery.

The Bear Gulch fire continues to burn, the crews keep fighting despite everything. But the message of this operation will remain: No one is safe anymore from the reach of a policy that does not judge people by their contribution to society but by their origin. Even if they are standing in the middle of the fire. And the question is slowly arising of how much more the American society will accept in silence - or whether in the next weeks the barrel will overflow and all the dams will break. It is crackling in many corners of the U.S., and it only takes one or two matches.

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