From the Arizona Daily Star June 12, 2011:

Many in S. Ariz. fire zone blame border crossers

By Brady McCombs Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Sunday, June 12, 2011 12:00 am

The two largest wildfires burning in Southern Arizona originated in rugged, mountainous corridors frequently used by cross-border people and drug smugglers.

And the U.S. Forest Service has determined that both fires were human-caused.

So even though the investigations remain open, speculation is ablaze that illegal immigrants or smugglers are responsible for the Horseshoe 2 Fire northeast of Douglas and the Murphy Complex Fire northwest of Nogales.

“It’s definitely not caused by somebody on a picnic whose wiener overcooked,” resident Brad Titcomb said about the Murphy Fire, which came within a mile of his house in the Aliso Springs neighborhood west of Tubac. “This is illegal traffic one way or another.”

More…

And from, KPHO TV Phoenix June 10, 2011:

Ranchers Suspect Immigrants In String Of Fires

Firefighters Taking Extra Precautions Due To Smuggling Danger

PHOENIX — When Dan Bell looks out onto the sprawling ranch that makes up his family’s ZZ Cattle Company, he sees smoke and smoldering mountains.

“I’ve never seen a year like this,” said Bell.

The 70,000-acre Murphy Complex Fire burning through the Coronado National Forest south of Tucson is the latest of seven fires since March that have burned through land on Bell’s ranch. He estimates two-thirds of the ranch’s grazing acres are now charred.

“There was nothing to really cause these fires to start, so one has to think that it has to be associated with illegal activity that’s going on around the border,” said Bell.

The ranch is located just north of the Arizona border with Mexico, and Bell said he believes the fires were set by illegal immigrants as they camped or signaled for help
More…

You bet the people of the borderlands are pissed about the fires.

Borderlands residents know where these fires started and they are smuggler trail areas.

Wherther deliberately set by drug cartel smugglers to divert attention away from their smuggling activites, or accidentally started from migrant or drug smuggler campfires…this would not be happening if people are not running around the borderlands.

And even if they are “accidental”….there is a spectacular disregard for anyone else’s interests going on here.

Our lands are expedient to cross through…who cares if a campfire is left burning…who cares if trash if left all over the countryside…gotta get to New York for that job. Gotta smuggle that dope so some pot head in San Francisco can get high.

Another example of why the border is not as secure as Obama and Napolitano claim.

Politically correct fire stories…who is burning down our wildlands?

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions…burning down our wildlands

The fire next door….this time in Tubac..updated information on Murphy Fire

Chiricahua Mountains … another “sky island” turned to ash

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 12th, 2011 at 6:21 am and is filed under border issues, environment water and energy, politics. Tags for this post: border issues, border security, horseshoe 2 fire, murphy fire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.