Fire crews inspect the site of the Sugar Bowl fire earlier this month. Photo from Hoopa Valley Tribe
The Hoopa Valley Tribe of California is reaching out to Indian Country as it battles a large number of fires, including many caused by humans. With 30 human-caused fires so far this year, the reservation ranks among the top five in terms of arson. The tribe has been working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on an investigation and indicated that suspects face imminent arrest. “We brought in an arson investigation team to look into the human-caused fires in Hoopa,” Josh Simmons, the fire management officer for the BIA's Pacific Region, said in a press release distributed by the tribe. “It’s been ongoing for over two months.” The large number of fires prompted the tribe to bring in outside help for the first time. According to the press release, crews from the Tuolumne Rancheria in California, the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona and the BIA agency in Wewoka, Oklahoma, helped out Anyone who deliberately commits arson faces removal and banishment from the reservation, the tribe said.
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