Two people fighting the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula were arrested by federal law enforcement Wednesday, in a confrontation described by firefighters and depicted in photos and video.

Why the two firefighters were arrested is unclear. But a spokesperson for the Incident Management Team leading the firefighting response said the team was “aware of a Border Patrol operation on the fire,” that it was not interfering with the firefighting response and referred reporters to the Border Patrol station in Port Angeles.

Over three hours, federal agents demanded identification from the members of two private contractor crews. The crews were among the 400 people including firefighters deployed to fight the wildfire, the largest active blaze in Washington state.

It is unusual for federal border agents to make arrests during the fighting of an active fire, especially in a remote area.

While they were waiting for their division supervisor to arrive, federal law enforcement showed up around 9:30 a.m.

Federal law enforcement asked the crews to line up to check their IDs, according to the firefighters.

One of the firefighters said members of the crew were told not to take video of the incident.

“You risked your life out here to save the community,” the firefighter said. “This is how they treat us.”

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