The White River Fire grew dramatically Thursday evening, up to 9,791 acres as of Friday morning.  That’s up by over 7,000 acres from Thursday morning.  Fire Public Information Officer Mary Ellen Fitzgerald says strong winds led to the fire making a big push to the east from the Mt. Hood National Forest onto state and private lands.  The fire is just north of the community of Pine Grove and has moved on to state lands in the Smock Prairie area, burning from the northwest to the southeast down the White River and moving into juniper trees and rangeland flats.  The weather forecast for today calls for 9 to 15 mile per hour winds…but also lower humidity.  Fitzgerald says the fire breached primary, alternate, and contingency lines, forcing fire officials to re-evaluate their strategies, but they will have a full complement of resources with over 600 firefighters on site.  There are also four heavy helicopters and a smaller helicopter, and fixed wing retardant drops were called in yesterday.  She adds a Type 1 management team will be coming in to manage fire operations on Saturday.  Fitzgerald says Oregon Governor Kate Brown has invoked the conflagration act, and structural strike teams from the state Fire Marshal’s office are being brought in to protect homes and other buildings in the fire area.  Evacuation advisories issued yesterday remain in effect as of this morning.  The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office gave a Level 3 “Go Now” order for residents who live from Bear Springs Ranger Station along Highway 216 through Pine Grove, to the intersection of Endersby Road and Highway 216, including homes on Endersby, Linns Mill, and Kelly Springs roads.  There were a number of other Level 1 and 2 evacuation advisories issued.  Full evacuation information is on the Wasco County Sheriff’s Facebook page.

The U.S. Forest Service has implemented a reservation system through rec.gov to manage crowd size and provide assured public access to Multnomah Falls and the Multnomah Falls Historic Lodge.  Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Manager Lynn Burditt says the ticketing system is an attempt to ensure a sense of people able to visit the site when they want to while managing crowd sizes.  It’s available at rec.gov.  Upon arrival at Multnomah Falls, visitors must use the Interstate 84 parking lot at exit 31.  There is no parking available along the Historic Columbia River Highway by Multnomah Falls.   Give yourself enough time to arrive within the one-hour time slot reserved; early and late arrivals will not be granted access to Multnomah Falls.

Oregon Health Authority officials said during a Thursday press briefing that the state’s positive COVID-19 trends continue.  OHA Director Patrick Allen said for the week ending this past Sunday cases were down 13 percent from the previous week, and it was the third straight week with a decline.  The percentage of positive COVID-19 tests also dropped from 5.4 % to 5.1%.    But Allen said there is still a long way to go, especially to open schools to in-person learning.  Allen said hospitalizations have dropped by 41% since August 14, but added that must be confirmed by additional data.

The Oregon Department of Forestry said Thursday the Mosier Creek Fire is now in patrol status as mop-up activities have been completed.  Firefighters have established a 300 foot “black” area adjacent to the fire edge and any homes within the fire area, and eliminated any smoke or heat adjacent to the fire edge.  ODF and Mosier Fire will regularly patrol the fire to look for smoke or fire within that edge area.  ODF officials say as fire consumes areas of un-burned fuel within the interior of the fire, smoke may be visible to the public, but usually poses little risk.  However, people concerned about fire activity within the perimeter are encouraged to call The Dalles Unit of ODF at 541-296-4626.  Smoke will likely continue until significant precipitation occurs in the region to dampen fuels and put the fire completely out.

The Columbia Gorge Community College Board of Education has ratified the final construction budget for its new skills center and student housing on its campus in The Dalles.  CGCC Vice-President of Instruction Jarett Gilbert says the school’s plans have not been deterred by the COVID-19 pandemic, but did note the number of rooms in the housing project had to be looked at.  The skills center will house metal fabrication and construction trades programs along with aviation maintenance training.  Completion is set for next summer.  

While Hood River County was reporting being down to five active COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, the County Health Department is still very busy.  County Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg says they are doing contact tracing on 49 additional people to try to control the spread of coronavirus.  He adds gatherings remain the main source of virus spread.  Van Tilburg is also urging people get their flu shot this year, noting many pharmacies now have them in stock.

The Four Rivers Early Learning Hub is trying to provide resources to parents of young children to enhance their educational development during the pandemic.  Four Rivers Kaleidoscope Play and Learn Lead Coordinator DeeAnn Bohn says a good start is to have fun with your child, and talk and play.  Four Rivers has established a website to help support parents with wide array of links to resources.  It is at fourriversfamily.com.

It will be a crowded local ballot in both The Dalles and Hood River as the deadline to file for mayoral and city council elections passed on Tuesday.  In The Dalles three people have filed to run for mayor, including incumbent Richard Mays, Solea Kabakov, and Jason Garrett Gibson.  For The Dalles City Council, current position two seat-holder Darcy Long-Curtiss is opposed by John Willer; Forust Ercole, Dan Richardson, and John Grant IV are running for position four that is being vacated by Linda Miller, who did not seek re-election; and Rod Runyon looks to retain position five and is being challenged by Tiffany Prince.  In Hood River, incumbent Mayor Kate McBride is being opposed by Dani Correa.  Three Council seats are up for grabs, with incumbents Mark Zanmiller, Megan Saunders, and Gladys Rivera looking to stay on the Council, with former Councilor Susan Johnson, Brian Towey, and Donald Herring also on the ballot.

Hood River County Commissioners decided to close County forestlands to public recreational use between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. starting on Thursday.  County Forester Doug Thiesies had suggested to the Commission to completely close those lands to recreational use, citing high fire danger in combination with concerns about the availability of firefighting resources and a continued high public use of the forestlands.  But Commissioners decided to zero in on stopping dispersed camping outside of designated campgrounds.  Commissioner Les Perkins said limiting access to day use should make it easier to identify risky situations.  Commissioners also discussed motorized vehicles, but Thiesies says the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Regulated Use Closure already limits those to improved roads only.  

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell gave an optimistic report to the Wasco County Commission on Wednesday, presenting statistics showing only five COVID-19 cases were reported for the week that ended August 16, and the positive test rate dropped to 1.4%.  McDonell said it’s a trend that could lead to the opportunity for schools to be able to return to in-person learning, but stressed that it is not a given the trend will continue.  She says it’s important for people to keep wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing.  Oregon’s positive COVID-19 test rate for the week ended August 16 was 5.1%.  That mark needs to get below 5% to let most larger schools become eligible to reopen.