US Forest Service Border Fire Prevention Crew Part 2

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The United States Forest Service's Border Fire Prevention Crew is made up of a unique group of firefighters whose job is to to put out camp fires built by illegal immigrants and to clean up the trash they leave behind in the Cleveland National Forest as they make their journey from Mexico to California.

Although they have a friendly relationship with U.S. Border Patrol, the Fire Prevention Crew does not work with the agency to apprehend illegal immigrants.  Rather they keep the forest safe and clean, and they tend to injured and sick migrants.  The group does not carry weapons, and they wear shirts marked with both the American and Mexican flags with the words "Firefighter" and "Bomberos" printed on them.

Jennifer MacDonald of the USFS Border Fire Prevention Crew explains, "We have them for safety reasons, so when we're out in the field, if we come across the migrants coming across the boarder, they know that we're firefighters and that we aren't a threat.  We're there to help."

Most of the time, the immigrants will hide or run away when the crew is near; however, sometimes they leave sick people behind, and the Fire Prevention Crew will render medical aid.  Many of the immigrants are not prepared for the three to four day journey, and do not bring enough water. MacDonald says, "We get a lot of dehydration.  The people coming across, they don't know that the lake water around here is bad or yucky.  So they'll end up drinking it and then they'll get sick."

Often the immigrants do not realize that they are going to have to walk twenty to thirty miles uphill and come unprepared, wearing office attire and shoes without treads.  According to firefighter Angelica Cook, "Usually what they tell them is that they're going to be hiking for just a couple hours, and it ends up being four days." The crew often sees women, children and elderly people making the dangerous journey.

The firefighters occasionally come upon the dead bodies of those who could not survive the trek.  MacDonald says that in those cases, the firefighters call their dispatch center who alerts the Sheriff and Coroner.  They will stay with the body until law enforcement arrives.  According to the U.S. Border Patrol hundreds of illegal immigrants die each year.

Watch Part 1 of Deanne's story on the fire prevention crew here.


Author:Deanne Goodman - FDNNTV.com