Hood River County was the only one of 6 counties with a confirmed and presumptive case of COVID-19 Thursday and they had just one, pushing the total to 240 with 238 out of isolation and 52 recovered. Wasco County stayed at 230, with 199 recovered. Sherman County has 16 recoveries in 18 cases and Gilliam County has 7 cases with 4 recoveries. The state reported 215 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19, but no new deaths. Cases have gone over 30 thousand at 30,060 with deaths remaining at 521. Klickitat County remains at 203 cases, with 194 recovered and Skamania County has 58 recovered out of 60 cases. The state of Washington now has 81,198 confirmed cases and 11 new deaths to reach 2,031.

The Big Hollow Fire gained just over 800 acres Thursday and now stands at 22,973 acres. Crews continue to remove fuels inside the fire line. They are also patrolling areas and containing spot fires in the area. There are now 327 personnel manning the fire, with 8 hand crews, 12 engines, 5 dozers, 1 water tender and 1 helicopter. Structure protection work was completed around Government Mineral Springs cabins. There is still a level three evacuation notice in the Government Mineral Springs Area and level one order in effect north and west of the fire, including Yale, Cougar, Northwoods and parts of Amboy and Yacolt. Area closures include most developed campgrounds, dispersed camping and most forest roads and trails in the SW Gifford Pinchot. The fire is 15% contained.  

The Big Hollow Fire, 15 miles northwest of Carson grew to 22,153 acres Wednesday. Firefighters suppressed a new start in the Trapper Creek Wilderness that could have threatened containment lines. More personnel and equipment have been added, there are now 367 firefighters, with 10 hand crews, 13 engines, 3 dozers and 1 water tender, along with a helicopter and fixed-wing. Crews are continuing the process of consuming fuels inside the control line. Crews burned a control line east of Road 64 and north of Road 201 to stop fire spread east of the Wind River Highway. There is still a level three evacuation in effect for Government Mineral Springs and level one in Yale, Cougar, Northwoods and parts of Amboy and Yacolt. Containment is now at 15%.  

Hood River County reported their first positive COVID-19 case in 5 days Wednesday. That brings the number to 239, with 238 out of isolation and 52 recovered. Wasco County recorded two new cases with an overall total of 230. 199 have recovered. Both Sherman County and Gilliam County had no cases, with Sherman County remaining at 18 cases with 16 recovered and Gilliam County 4 recovered out of 7 cases. The state of Oregon reported 195 new confirmed and presumptive cases and two deaths. Total cases are 29,850 with 521 deaths.                                                                     There were no new cases in Skamania County, 58 of 60 cases have recovered. Klickitat County went up one to 203 cases with 194 recovered. Washington has a total of 80,812 confirmed cases and 2,020 deaths.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Big Hollow Fire has burned 20,805 acres. There are 284 personnel on hand, including 6 hand crews, 9 engines, dozers and a water tender. They also have a helicopter and fixed-wing plane available. Crews have continued firing operations along roads 57 and 58 and installed fire lines to limit progress in the south. They’ve prepped roads to limit westerly spread. They also planned to burn a control line to stop eastward spread. Crews are monitoring around structures at Government Mineral Springs, where there is a level three evacuation notice. Level One orders are in effect in Yale, Cougar, Northwoods and parts of Amboy and Yacolt. Most developed campgrounds, dispersed camping,  and most forest roads and trails in the Southwest part of the  Gifford Pinchot are closed. The Pacific Crest Trail is open. The fire is 10% contained.

For the fourth day in a row, Hood River County reported no new or presumptive COVID-19 cases. The total cases remain at 238, with all cases out of isolation and 52 recovered. Wasco County had no new cases and the count overall is 228 with 198 recovered. Gilliam County reported two new or presumptive cases for a total of 7 overall and 4 recovered. Sherman County had no new cases and 16 of their 18 total cases are recovered. The Oregon Health Authority reported 184 new confirmed and presumptive cases, for a total of 29,662. There were 8 deaths, with the overall count now at 519. Skamania County had no new cases, they remain at 60 cases overall with 58 recovered. Klickitat County reports no new cases, they remain at 202 cases for the pandemic with 6 active cases and 193 recovered. The State of Washington total count is 80,465 cases. There were 9 deaths reported with the total now 2,015.

Wasco County reported one new COVID-19 case on Monday, bringing the County’s total during the pandemic to 227, with 194 recovered. Hood River County had no new cases on Monday, leaving the total at 239, with 235 out of isolation. Both Gilliam and Sherman Counties reported no new cases. Gilliam remains at 5 cases with 4 recovered, and 16 of 18 cases have recovered in Sherman County. The state reports 151 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, with a total of 29,484. Two new deaths push that number to 511. There were no reports Monday from Klickitat or Skamania Counties. Klickitat stays at 202, with 193 recovered. Skamania County is still at 60 total cases, with 58 recovered. Washington State has gone over the 80,000 mark with 80,138 total cases. Deaths are now at 2,006.

The Big Hollow Fire has now scorched 20,805 acres as of Monday night. It is burning timber, litter and logging slash east and north of the Trapper Creek Wilderness on the Mt. Adams Ranger District. 284 total personnel are working on the fire. The fire is currently 10% contained. The estimated full containment date is October 10th. PNW Incident Management Team #12 will hold a virtual community meeting late this afternoon beginning at 5pm to discuss the fire. Go to www.facebook.com/GiffordPinchot to join in. The video will be saved and able to be viewed and shared for those that can’t attend during the live broadcast.

Hood River County Commissioners voted Friday to institute a full closure of County forestlands effective immediately due to the extreme fire danger in the Northwest.  County Forester Doug Thiesies told the Commission that along with extremely dry conditions, firefighting resources are tapped out with the large number of major fires in the region.  He added the heavy smoke in the area will make it difficult to detect new fire starts.  Commissioners had closed the forestlands to nighttime recreational use over a week ago, but Commissioner Les Perkins noted conditions had changed in the course of that time.  Perkins also pointed out that the closure is easier to enforce with the Mt. Hood National Forest also closing its lands and actively patrolling.  Landowners with private property in holdings will continue be issued permits by the Forest Manager.  Some areas will continue to be a passive closure and gate closures will remain in addition to closing additional existing primary road gates on North and South Gilhouley, Post Canyon, Riordan Hill and Binns Hill.  Temporary forest road closure signage will be updated to reflect a full closure and placed in areas that may have an imminent threat of fire spread.  County officials will assess conditions daily to determine when the forestlands can be reopened.

Shifting winds has brought very smoky conditions to the Gorge from wildfires burning in Northwest Oregon.  Air quality monitoring from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality rated conditions in the Gorge from very unhealthy to hazardous as of Friday morning.  Local health officials advise residents during poor air quality to stay inside if possible and keep windows and doors closed, and avoid strenuous outdoor activity.  Use high efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filters, either as portable filters or installed in HVAC systems.  Drink lots of water to keep your airway moist and avoid respiratory irritation. Avoid driving in smoky areas, and if you must do so roll the windows up and set the air conditioning system to recirculate to avoid brining smoke into the vehicle.  Also, cloth, dust, and surgical masks do not protect from the harmful particles of smoke.