BORDER POLICY TAKES TOLL ON FIRE CREWS : DISTRICT REELS FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT COSTS.

Byline: Matthew Fordahl Associated Press 

Fire Chief Bill Bagnell never thought about illegal immigration until a few months ago, when a federal plan to battle border crossers pushed them into the isolated reaches of his rural district.

First came the mountain medical rescues - dehydrated migrants with broken legs, pregnant women in labor and diabetics about to pass out. Then there were the wildfires, which once totaled about two dozen a year.

``We're really just now beginning to come into the fire season, and we've already posted over 200 fires,'' Bagnell said. ``My resources are taxed, and obviously the rescues all have a financial impact.''

Most of the brush fires this year were started by immigrants' campfires. The federal government has moved 185 more Border Patrol agents, helicopters and ground sensors to the federally protected area, but it refuses to reimburse local costs associated with illegal immigrants.

``We are doing everything we can do within our budgetary constraints to tackle the problem of illegal immigration,'' said Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol.

The problems in eastern San Diego County stem from the Clinton administration's ``Operation Gatekeeper,'' which fortified the urban border in San Diego. Like a squeezed balloon, migrant traffic shifted east.

One of the most popular routes would appear to be the least likely - over remote and isolated Otay Mountain, a rugged, 3,566-foot peak 30 miles east of San Diego and just north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It was also where country singer Reba McEntire's band was killed in a 1991 plane crash.

The estimated 2,000 illegal immigrants who trudge through the 7-foot-high chaparral each day know the Border Patrol cannot monitor every canyon from the mountain's two access roads.

The enormity of the tactical problems became apparent during a recent two-hour trip Bagnell made up the mountain, driving no more than 10 miles an hour because the winding road - the Minnewawa - is unpaved and pocked.

Much of it is nothing more than a scratch along a ridge with 500-foot drops to the right and vertical cliffs to the left. The same road is used by firetrucks, ambulances and crew buses.

And since illegal immigrants began crossing the mountain, fire fighting tactics have changed from indirect to labor-intensive.

``Behind every bush, there's liable to be somebody day sleeping,'' Bagnell said. ``We have to take more of a direct attack, which means we actually go down with hoses and firetrucks and fight the fires.''

Water has to be brought in because tanks built by the California Department of Forestry were broken into by migrants, who got sick after drinking the water. The concrete tubs now sit empty.

About halfway up the mountain, rare plants such as Tecate cypress mix with large manzanitas and scrub oaks. Tunnels carved by immigrants snake through the chaparral, which is littered with water bottles, cigarette butts and dirty diapers.

Near the summit, the scene changes to an alien landscape. A fire known as Otay 121, which started in April, burned more than 1,000 acres and left nothing but charred chaparral branches.

``You have to get to these fires and get to them quickly or they're going to be in Jamul or Chula Vista, where you are really going to sustain major damage,'' Bagnell said.

Last month, county supervisors declared a state of emergency in the eastern region, firing off letters to President Clinton demanding reimbursement and military patrols to stop the ``invasion.''

During a recent visit, Clinton promised to help cut red tape for road improvements. But the Bureau of Land Management has refused to allow new roads to fight fires and immigration in the environmentally sensitive area.

Both the state and San Diego County have asked for reimbursement for costs associated with illegal immigration. The San Diego Rural Fire Protection District has also asked but has been refused like everyone else.

The expenses, including $38,000 this year for paramedic services alone, are especially difficult to bear for the small fire district with its $600,000 annual budget, 690-square-mile territory and 16,000 residents who pay for the services.

``When our budget is expended, we have to do away with programs,'' Bagnell said. ``Local governments are taking a beating for federal policy.''

Gatekeeper's strategists had believed crossers would be dissuaded by the rugged terrain. Instead, the problem has been pushed east to an area with fewer voters and less political clout, critics say.

``There may have been the thinking that it would not be noticed,'' said county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who has led efforts for reimbursement from the federal government. ``Those who designed Gatekeeper are dead wrong.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) William Bagnell, chief of the San Diego RuralFire Protection District, looks over an area of Otay Mountain scorched by fire.

(2) Illegal immigrant suspects are arrested on Otay Mountain.

Associated Press