One person is dead and two others, including a Carson woman, were sent to the hospital after a seven-car crash Thursday afternoon involving a manufactured home stuck on Highway 14’s Camas Slough Bridge. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the manufactured home being transported by semi-truck caused the westbound lane of Highway 14 at milepost 15 to close down. A Washington State Police trooper posted on social media that the accident happened after someone stuck behind the manufactured home tried to perform a U-turn. The WSP says that car was struck by an on-coming truck, which pushed the car into four other vehicles. The WSP says the driver of the car that performed the U-turn, 68-year-old Willard Strickland of Washougal, was killed. One of the drivers of the other vehicles, 34-year-old Brandy Demchuk of Carson, was taken to Peace Health Southwest Medical Center for treatment of injuries.
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County Commission Discusses Parkdale Plan
Hood River County Commissioners received an overview of an unincorporated community plan for Parkdale at their meeting this week, but elected to wait to move forward with scheduling a public hearing on it. That was in part because Chad Muenzer, who represents Parkdale on the Commission, was unable to attend the meeting. The plan has already gone through the Planning Commission. It makes zoning changes to allow more options for duplexes and accessory dwelling units, and to allow multi-family housing with limits in the commercial zone. Consultant Matt Hastie said growth is limited by the capacity of Parkdale’s wastewater treatment plant. In feedback from the community while the proposed plan was developed, Hastie reported conflicting feelings about expanding the plant. The Commission will address the plan again at its September meeting.
Wasco County Hears From Landowners On Wildfire Map
Wasco County Commissioners heard from landowners in the southern part of the county concerned about the latest proposals for the state’s wildfire hazard map. Dan Van Vactor and Stephen Griffith told Commissioners the state is not recognizing enough irrigated lands, rating them as high or moderate risk. They both note vegetation is really the only factor considered by the map landowners can control. Commissioner Steve Kramer noted that similar comments are coming from other parts of the county and the rest of the state, with over 15 counties expected to take part in a Monday meeting with the Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon State University to deliver that message. This the state’s second try at this kind of map, after public criticism of the first attempt led to a restart of the process.
Whisky Creek Fire Moves To 24% Containment
Containment of the Whisky Creek Fire southeast of Cascade Locks in the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness has jumped up to 24%, as fire managers take advantage of favorable weather conditions to implement more direct fire suppression efforts. Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 10 Operations Section Chief Cary Neu says much of their focus has remained to the south and east of the fire. Neu says to the north and east mop up and patrol continues. Fire size was increased slightly to 2,067 acres. Officials expect cooler temperatures, higher humidity, and scattered showers in the next couple of days will continue to moderate fire behavior.
Williams Mine Containment At 19%
Containment of the Williams Mine Fire northwest of Trout Lake has moved up to 19%. Spencer Gregory with Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 13 Field Operations says the cooler and wetter weather is providing great conditions in the effort to put the 11,764 acre fire to bed. Over a quarter of an inch of rain is forecast for the fire area through the weekend. Washington Department of Natural Resources lands near Trout Lake and Glenwood remained closed due to the fire, along with the Yakama Nation Tract D Recreation Area. Level 1 evacuation advisories are in effect for the Trout Lake area.
Wilder New NCPHD Public Health Officer
North Central Public Health District has named Dr. Kathleen Wilder as its new Public Health Officer, replacing Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg. Van Tilburg had been serving as Pulbic Health Officer for both Hood River County Health Department and NCPHD since May of last year, and will remain in the Hood River County position. He will also continue regional work with Wilder and NCPHD. Wilder has been Deputy Health Officer at NCPHD since last summer and will take the lead as of September 1. Wilder says she has always approached clinical medicine through a public health lens. She earned a Master’s Degree in the area of Public Health before going to medical school. Wilder has been an obstetrician-gynecologist at Adventist Health Columbia Gorge’s Columbia River Women’s Center.
MCCFL Refocuses Crisis Response For OHA Rules
Mid-Columbia Center for Living is in the process of refocusing its crisis response from focusing on responding to hospital emergency rooms to community response. That’s to adjust to the Oregon Health Authority’s adoption of new rules for Community Mental Health Programs it governs. The rules require programs like Center for Living to have two-person mobile crisis response teams available 24-7 to respond to behavioral health crisis in the community while reducing the need for law enforcement involvement in non-violent situations. Center for Living Executive Director Al Barton says another element of the new rules requires up to 52 days of support for families and youth age 20 or younger. Barton says they have been working with area hospitals for this transition, but those facilities will need to provide their own staff to provide behavioral health assessments and discharge planning.
CGCC Looks At Demographic Data
Columbia Gorge Community College has been reviewing its enrollment and demographics data over the course of the last five years. CGCC Director of Advising and Outreach Karly Aparicio says there was a dip in enrollment during the pandemic, but that has bounced back. She adds their demographics show the typical CGCC student is actually “everyone,” but it has trended older in recent years. Aparicio says the data does show opportunities to better serve the Gorge community for a wider range of students. Options for that include changing how some classes are offered, growing the number of high school students who have access to in-person instruction, and adding new programs.
Whisky Creek Fire Activity Concentrated To The South
Size of the Whisky Creek Fire southeast of Cascade Locks in the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness went up by one acre to 2,058 acres, while containment is still at 9%. Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 10 Operations Section Chief Cary Neu says crews continued mopping up containment lines along the fire’s eastern edge while removing hazardous trees, but fire activity is concentrated to the south. Firefighters are scouting line options near Tomlike Mountain. Officials expect cooler temperatures, higher humidity, and partly cloudy skies will continue to moderate fire behavior.
Cooler Weather Calming Williams Mine Fire
Cooler weather has helped calm the Williams Mine Fire northwest of Trout Lake. Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 13 Fire Behavior Analyst Dean Warner says moisture over the weekend has kept the fire at bay, and helped with efforts in the southern portion of the fire. Containment for the fire increased slightly to 13%, while the acreage was also upped to 11,755. Incident managers expect the containment percentage to continue climbing at a steady rate over the coming week as firefighters strengthen perimeter security along the fire’s edge.