Aug. 30 (UPI) — Two firefighters helping to fight a wildfire in Washington state were arrested this week by federal immigration officials, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed.

The two Mexican nationals were arrested and detained by federal agents around a mile from the frontline of the Bear Gulch wildfire in Olympic National Forest.

The blaze was first reported on July 6, has burned more than 9,200 acres and was 13% contained, according to the latest update from the Washington state fire officials.

The fire is currently the largest actively burning in Washington state.

Federal officials pulled aside 44 people to verify their identity this week, ultimately arresting the two men.

The fire’s Incident Management Team later said the arrests did not hinder firefighting capabilities.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrests in a post on X, but said the two men were not frontline 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 uninterrupted the entire time,” the department said in the post.

“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 arrests come as President Donald Trump‘s administration continues its crackdown against illegal immigration.

“Deeply concerned about this situation with two individuals helping to fight fires in Washington state. I’ve directed my team to get more information about what happened,” Gov. Bob Ferguson, D-Wash., said in a post on X.

“Donald Trump ran his campaign on sending out the worst of the worst. I’m not sure who’s more the best of the best than our firefighters, actively fighting the largest fire in Washington,” Ferguson said in a separate post.