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.

A Type II team has taken over management of the 12,050 acre Big Hollow fire fifteen miles northwest of Carson and seven miles southeast of Cougar on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  Fire managers said Friday that Indirect control lines are being constructed with heavy equipment and roads to protect the communities of Cougar, Chelatchie and Yale to the west.  Structure protection is being implemented to protect cabins at Government Mineral Springs and the Carson National Fish Hatchery.  Firefighters are also assessing the risk to structures to the north and east in the fire area.  The Forest Service has issued area closures in the southwest portion of the Gifford Pinchot that include most developed campgrounds, dispersed camping, day-use and wilderness areas, and most forest roads and trails within the closure area.  The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has issued closures for the Siouxon Block and recreation sites within the Merill Lake Conservation Area.    

Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden’s office announced on Thursday that the Port of Hood River and Klickitat County have been awarded a $5 million from the Department of Transportation to put toward phase two of the effort to replace the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says the funding from the Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development grant will be used to fund engineering and other supporting studies.  The Port is providing $1.25 million as a match for the grant.  McElwee noted bipartisan support from the Congressional delegations in both Oregon and Washington helped secure the funding.

The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area has temporarily closed all recreation areas except for Multnomah Falls, Wyeth Campground, Lower Klickitat, and Lower White Salmon Wild & Scenic Rivers, and the Sandy River Delta due to fire danger.  Motorists can drive the Historic Columbia River Highway from Larch Mountain to Ainsworth, but parking along the highway or visiting sites within that section is prohibited.  Oregon State Parks is temporarily closing parks along the Historic Highway from Larch Mountain to Ainsworth as well as the Angel’s Rest Trailhead and trail and Mount Defiance at Starvation Creek.  All other parks, trails, and campgrounds remain open including Rooster Rock, Dabney, Lewis & Clark, Dalton Point, Mayer, the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail and associated day use areas.  Memaloose, Viento, and Ainsworth Campgrounds remain open.  The closures will remain in effect until conditions improve and will be re-evaluated daily.

As fires rage in much of the Pacific Northwest, the White River Fire in southern Wasco County remains at 70 percent containment.  Incident Commander Noel Livingston said Thursday morning that the fire remains in patrol status, and resources on the scene are keeping an eye on it to make sure the fire stays within its perimeter.  Livingston’s Type 1 management team is now in charge of the Lionshead Fire in Marion County, which continues to actively grow to the west and has joined with the Beachie Creek Fire near Detroit Lake for a combined acreage of about 260,000.  The cities of Mill City, Gates, Lyons, Mehama, Detroit and other areas along Highway 22 have seen significant damage.  Fire managers have now determined that at least 13 new fires were started between Detroit and Mehama from downed powerlines during the peak of Monday’s wind event, and then on Tuesday a large front of wind-driven fire ran through the city of Detroit from the east.