Officials have told residents near the base of Mount Hood to prepare to evacuate in case the nearby Grasshopper Fire continues moving west.

Clackamas County issued Level 1 “Be Ready” warnings to the communities of Rhododendron, Government Camp and outlying areas that are within miles of the blaze. Those areas are home to roughly 200 properties, according to census data.

Staff at Mt. Hood Meadows said on social media that the area is under a Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation order and asked that people stay away.

“The fire has now moved into Clackamas County and our sheriff’s office and our disaster management is now activated,” Gary Schmidt, county administrator, said at a board meeting Tuesday. “Based on the wind conditions, the dryness, the heat — we’re concerned.”

The nearly 35,000-acre wildfire, which has generated towering plumes of smoke, is largely packed into the rough terrain of the Badger Creek Wilderness. Wildland firefighters are mostly working by hand and with air support, fire officials said, with steep terrain hampering the efforts of bulldozers and other heavy rigs.

“It’s very difficult,” said Greg Barnum, a battalion chief. “You literally have to do it by hand and foot, walk-in, dig it out by hand.”

Much will depend on the weather, however. Hot and windy weather is particularly dangerous for large wildfires. Tuesday is expected to top out at 80 degrees, and then temperatures will hover between 88 and 95 degrees for much of the rest of the week. But Barnum said Monday he was pleased the wind had died down.

“I always worry about the weather,” said Barnum, who has led task forces at the fire for a week. The fire sparked in late July.

About 1,200 personnel are on hand to fight the Grasshopper Fire.

Meanwhile, Oregon is collectively nearing a grim new record: most acres burned in a single fire season. In 2024, large fires burned 2,081,661 acres. The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center defines a large fire as burning more than 100 acres in timber, or more than 300 acres in grass or brush.

This summer is on track to exceed that record. The NWCC told OPB Tuesday that large fires have burned 2,026,810 acres so far this year.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/04/grasshopper-fire-clackamas-county-evacuation/