Immigration raid at Washington blaze stokes fear in wildfire crews nationwide

Federal immigration officials in Washington state arrived on the scene of the largest wildfire in the state on Wednesday and arrested two firefighters who had been working to contain the blaze.

Wildfire veterans say it’s nearly unprecedented for federal agents to conduct immigration enforcement near the front lines of an active wildfire. Some fear the raid could reverberate throughout the wildland fire community, making it more difficult to fully staff the crews putting out blazes at the peak of fire season in the West.

“There’s a lot of brown bodies out there on the fire line,” said Bobbie Scopa, who had a 45-year career as a firefighter and now serves as executive secretary with Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of wildfire professionals.

Scopa noted that President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has swept up even some workers who are in the country legally.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/29/immigration-raid-at-washington-blaze-stokes-fear-in-wildfire-crews-nationwide/