Illegal immigrants accused of starting brush fire in San Diego County near Mexican border

[alp227]

An 827-acre fire dubbed the "Cowboy Fire" in southeastern San Diego County, California, has just been contained today. The backstory is a bit bizarre, according to the LA Times:

The two suspected illegal immigrants who started the fire as a signal after becoming lost have not been located despite a search by the Border Patrol and Cal Fire. The two called an emergency number in Mexico to report their action.

BTW, in Spanish "Cowboy Fire" = "Fuego de vaquero", and in Mexico the emergency number is generally 066 (or 060 or 080 in some areas).

So: you have some people who decided to cross the border without identifying themselves to Border Patrol and then decide to start a fire to get attention - even though fire danger is high in that area of California (tomorrow's high=98 in Calexico por ejemplo). When the fire spread wildly, they apparently called for help (which they should've done instead of lighting up a fire in hot, dry desert conditions).