Work on the 204,340-acre Lionshead fire is proceeding well, and containment is at 34%.  Fire crews are completing more containment line each day and looking for ways to attack the fire more directly where conditions allow.  Structural protection crews have shifted to patrol and chipping operations in Detroit and Idanha, as well as gathering the miles of hose used during the suppression effort.  Today, high winds are expected to increase fire activity, primarily consuming fuels in the interior, particularly in open areas.  Fire managers are developing hazard tree removal plans for Highway 22 to ensure safe public access, and for the 46 corridor to provide crews safe entry for mop-up.  The Rocky Mountain Area Type 1 Incident Management Team transferred command to the Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 13 on Sunday evening.  

Containment for the Riverside Fire on the Mt. Hood National Forest is now at 37%, with 138,029 acres burned.  Firefighters are focused on monitoring firelines, patrolling for heat pockets held in heavy fuels and suppression repair.  Heavy equipment work continues along roads with chippers and masticators to improve existing containment and contingency firelines on the south and west side of the fire.  Potential for 40-45 mile per hour gusts along east-west orientated drainages and Goat Mountain are forecast, so creeping and smoldering fire activity is expected, but significant growth of the fire is not anticipated due to lingering effects of the moisture from the past week.

The North Wasco County School District 21 Board of Directors will create policies and procedures to allow them to move forward with consideration of renaming Colonel Wright Elementary School.  The district has been receiving citizen input urging them to take the name of Colonel George Wright off the school, citing his brutal treatment of Native Americans during the settlement of the Pacific Northwest, but also received other comments asking them to keep the name as is.  Board chair John Nelson says he, board member Jose Aparicio, and interim superintendent Theresa Peters have been looking at other district’s naming policies, and once D-21 establishes their own and a policy on creating committees, the board will put together a panel with a cross section of the community to develop recommendations to the board.  Board members reached consensus to begin that process.

The Oregon Health Authority today reported the biggest single day COVID-19 case count since the pandemic began…457 new confirmed and presumptive cases.  In a press briefing OHA Director Patrick Allen termed the state’s increase in COVID cases over the past few days “another crossroads,” and that while Oregon still has a low rate of infection compared to the rest of the nation the latest figures show how fragile progress against the virus is.  State Health Officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger says there isn’t one specific reason for the increase, but gatherings of people remain a common theme.  Both Allen and Sidelinger continued to emphasize the need for people to wear face coverings and practice social distancing to stem the spread of the virus.  There were four new cases reported in Wasco County, none in Hood River County.

Many Mt. Hood National Forest areas closed following the Labor Day windstorm that brought down thousands of trees and propelled the Riverside Fire will reopen on Saturday.  The forest suffered extensive and severe damage as a result of the storm so many areas will remain closed or are still blocked by trees.  On the west side of the forest, areas north of US Highway 26 will reopen.  The closed area includes all of Clackamas River Ranger District and a portion of Zigzag Ranger District.  The Timberline Trail, Pacific Crest Trail (Timberline to Town Trail), Top Spur Trail, Sandy River Trail (Ramona Falls), and other trails in the immediate vicinity of Mt. Hood, while not formally closed, are nearly impassable due to downed trees.  On the east side of the forest Hood River Ranger District and Barlow Ranger District will reopen except for a fire closure area surrounding the White River Fire.  All campgrounds on the forest have closed for the season, except for Lost Lake, Laurance Lake, Sherwood, Nottingham, Eightmile, Lower Eightmile, Pebble Ford, Wahtum Lake, and Knebel Springs.  Campfires are still prohibited on the entire Mt. Hood National Forest due to high fire danger and ongoing active fires.  For full details on closure, go to the Mt. Hood National Forest website.

A federal grand jury has returned a six count indictment against two men, charging them with fraud against the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.  65-year-old Roderick Ariwite, a resident of Idaho’s Fort Hall Reservation and CEO of Warm Springs Ventures, and 48-year-old Warm Springs Reservation resident Thomas Adams, who was manager of Warm Springs Construction Enterprise, are charged with conspiring to misappropriate $93,700 of tribal funds.  Ariwite is charged in a separate indictment with interstate transportation of a $23,000 check obtained fraudulently from a board member of a tribal business entity.  The charges involve the pair creating their own construction company in October 2017 and on tribal time engaging in work projects for that company, and hiring a consulting company Ariwite operated for two projects that did not benefit the tribe.

Klickitat County has extended its burn bans to October 15 in burn ban zones 2 and 3 in the central and west part of the county, and to October 31 in the easternmost zone 1.  The dividing line for between zone 1 and 2 is the eastern Klickitat County Fire District 7 boundary.  The burn bans had been set to expire at the end of September.

Officials on the Big Hollow Fire on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest say the evacuation order for cabins located at Government Mineral Springs have been lowered to Level 2.  Occupants can return to the area but should be set for immediate evacuation.  The fire is now at 25% containment, and remains 24,995 acres in size.  Rain continued throughout Thursday, bringing moisture to the fire, and preventing further spread.  Larger fuels such as logs and stumps continue to burn in place.

The cold front that moved through the region Thursday brought rain to most of the Lionshead Fire, but the east side of the fire dried out quickly with gusty southwest winds.  Fire officials say the wind and drying fuels resulted in some increased burning in green islands well within the fire’s perimeter.  Another cold front is bringing more damp weather to the fire area today.  The combination of damp weather over most of the 204,250 acre fire resulted in containment increasing to 28%.  The evacuation levels around Detroit, Idanha, and the Elkhorn community were reduced to Level 2 this morning.  Residents will be able to return to these communities under strict safety conditions, but many hazards remain, and core services have not yet been restored.

The Riverside Fire on the Mt. Hood National Forest in Clackamas County remains at 34% containment, and is 138,029 acres in size.  Officials say while the rain has moderated fire behavior, especially in open areas where grass and brush are the primary vegetation, it will not put the fire out.  Fire will continue to smolder under the tree canopy in heavier fuels like logs and stumps.  Firefighters have been taking advantage of the weather to search out and extinguish hot spots close to the fire perimeter.  Federal and state lands in the fire area remain closed.