Despite losing the Flag Point Lookout, crews navigated a blustery Red Flag period last Saturday and saw containment numbers increase
By Nathan Wilson
Columbia Gorge News
WASCO CO. — After a significant test this weekend, the Grasshopper Fire, burning just north of Pine Hollow, Sportsmans Park and Wamic, grew, but only slightly, and crews are hopeful that it represents a turning point.
“If we keep holding like we’ve seen here, we’re trending in a really positive direction,” said Andrew Freeborn, public information officer for California Interagency Management Team 6, during an Aug. 2 interview. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but it feels like we’re about to get some reward and get some containment numbers boosted up from all the hard work that’s been done.”
And they did. As of press deadline on Monday morning, the Grasshopper Fire was 17% contained with 1,244 personnel on scene and 31,571 acres burned, primarily in the Badger Creek Wildnerness. Evacuation orders for the Pine Hollow area dropped to Level 2 that morning as well. Freeborn’s crew took command of the fire, which was sparked by lightning on July 23, last Wednesday with the Oregon State Fire Marshal.
During a community meeting two days later on July 31, operations leadership and local residents braced for a strong wind event. The incident meteorologist projected 30-35 mile-per-hour westerly gusts from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday as a cold front came over the Cascades, triggering a Red Flag warning for most of Eastern Oregon.
But control lines along the fire’s southwest corner and edge nearest Pine Hollow, didn’t budge. The northeast corner, however, saw slopover off Forest Road 27 and a spot fire heading toward Friend that crews were able to halt at roughly 400 acres burned.
And while no residential structures have reportedly been impacted yet, the Flag Point Lookout went up in flames on Saturday, despite prior fuels reduction work and fire retardant. The site, reconstructed in 1973, had been used to spot wildfires since 1924.
“Flag Point has long been an important part of the Mt. Hood National Forest and holds a special place for many members of the surrounding communities,” reads a press release from the United States Forest Service. “Firefighters remained engaged in structure protection operations as long as conditions allowed.”
Critical radio infrastructure on Flag Point, used by Wasco County, the Forest Service and other agencies, wasn’t damaged.
With a reprieve from the strong winds on Sunday, crews focused on building control lines around the Forest Road 27 slopover and indirect lines above the fire’s northern edge. Limited road access and steep terrain have necessitated different tactics for the fire’s upper half, including heavy air support and backing up to more defensible areas.
On Monday, as winds from the east brought hotter, drier temperatures once again, Freeborn explained how the areas of concern would similarly shift.
“That’s really going to benefit the east side of the fire, but it’s going to test all those control lines on the west side and northwest of the fire,” he said. “We’ll really have to keep an eye on this west side.”
Only five homes were still under Level 3 evacuation orders on Monday morning, compared to nearly 900 the day prior, according to numbers from Wasco County’s Department of Emergency Management.
Although season-ending rains are still months away, more land has already burned across Oregon than the 1.93-million-acre record set in 2024, based on data from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Last week, the agency issued an advisory noting how dismal snowpack and subsequent drought conditions have made normally unavailable fuels ripe for burning.
Of the 29,201 firefighters deployed nationwide, 19,276 were stationed in Oregon as of press deadline. During the community meeting last Friday, Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple, numerous Forest Service representatives, Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue Chief David Jensen, Wamic Fire Chief Larry Magill, Tygh Valley Chief David Colburn and most of the senior leadership from Freeborn’s team were present.
“We started with nine when this thing happened, nine incident commanders,” said Wasco County Sheriff Lane Magill. “We went from nine to over 90. These guys are highly trained. I’ve worked with a lot of incident management teams over the years in major incidents like this, and these guys are dialed in.”
At the request of Jensen, Ruiz-Temple invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act last Wednesday to bring additional resources from outside the state, and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announced that federal dollars will cover up to 75% of the Grasshopper Fire’s total suppression cost.
“This does create a lot of stress and fear in the community,” Chase Duncan, a state forester based in The Dalles, said to residents last Friday. “We have four of my firefighters who live in the community that are under evacuation and are still out on the line fighting the fire, so we understand.”
The Grasshopper Fire has closed multiple trails, recreation sites and roads in the Mt. Hood National Forest. More information can be found at www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mthood. For evacuation notices, visit www.perimetermap.com/wascocounty-or.
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