Seattle — Two firefighters who were part of a 44-person crew fighting a wildland blaze on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents during a multiagency criminal investigation into the two contractors they worked for, federal authorities said Thursday.

The arrests prompted Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington State, to call U.S. immigration policy "sick."

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management asked the Border Patrol to help check the workers' identities Wednesday when crews were working in a remote area, the Border Patrol said in a statement . Border Patrol agents found two workers who were in the U.S. illegally and arrested them, the ageny said.

Federal authorities didn't provide information about the investigation into the contractors and d

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