Sunday, September 25, 2011

Paper confirms illegal alien started Murphy Complex fire

The man suspected of setting a distress fire that blew out of control and became the Murphy Complex Fire was an illegal alien from Toluca, Mexico, and the federal government doesn't think you have a right to know his name. The fire began on May 30 and continued through mid-June, burning 68,000 acres, most in the Coronado National Forest north and west of Nogales. At one point, the Murphy Fire, which merged with the Pajarita Fire on June 5, threatened Rio Rico, as well as homes in Aliso Springs west of Interstate 19 near Tubac. The Tucson Weekly reported on the fire on June 30 ("Arizona Burning"), quoting incident commander Mark South, a well-known wildlands firefighter. The paper sought additional information through a Freedom of Information Act request, and much of the information we received tracks with what we already reported. But the documents obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection did add a few details. They state that at 2:30 p.m. on May 30, the pilot of a Forest Service helicopter responding to a fire southeast of Bear Grass, west of Arivaca, "observed a subject waving in an attempt to get the pilot's attention." South previously told the Weekly that the man admitted setting the fire, and that Border Patrol agents on the scene believed that he'd been traveling with a group of 10 or 12. South added that agents pulled out several others who needed medical attention. Border Patrol arrived and "determined the subject to be an illegal alien and suffering the effects of dehydration." The man said he'd been without water for two days...more

1 comment:

Border Wathcer said...

We need to know how many forest or BLM allotments have been cattle free where all this took place. Those agencies need to be placed in the hot seat on their deeds.