Border crossers suspected of causing US wildfires

WASHINGTON: A report from the investigative branch of Congress said Tuesday that nearly 40 percent of wildfires over the past five years in Arizona may have been caused by illegal border crossers coming from Mexico.

The report was requested by Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, who in June blamed illegal immigrants and drug traffickers for wildfires in his southwestern state that borders on Mexico.

Between 2006 and 2010 there were at least 2,467 fires in Arizona's brush desert, according to the report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Of those, firefighters believe that 86 percent were caused by humans, a percentage in line with national data.

"Based on our review of agency investigation reports, illegal border crossers were a suspected cause of ignition for 30 of the 77 investigated wildland fires, or about 39 percent," read the GAO report, citing information from local data and witness testimony.

The fires break out because the migrants set fires to cook or stay warm in the cold desert nights, or to mislead Border Patrol agents, the report said.

In 2006 border crossers in the Black Mesa area started a fire to get help because one of the migrants was injured and needed medical assistance. That fired scorched 170 acres (0.6 square kilometers).

The federal government spent $33 million between 2006 and 2010 to battle wildfires in Arizona. However the cause of the fires are not regularly investigated due to a lack of personnel, the GAO said. (AFP)