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HILDALE, Utah (AP) -- Police confiscated a rifle from three boys suspected of firing shots at air tankers after another boy sparked a brush fire with fireworks.
B-L-M officials say the pilots had enough on their hands flying under hazardous conditions without being fired upon.
The bureau dispatched three single-engine air tankers, a helicopter and other air support Thursday to help put out a 28-acre fire before it could grow larger.
Hildale Mayor David Zitting says the three juveniles are denying a witness' account that they were firing shots at the airplanes but that police took their rifle anyway.
It wasn't immediately clear if any of the planes were hit. Hildale police and the Bureau of Land Management are looking into it.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
