KWSO News for Thu., Sep. 24, 2020

The Lionshead Fire was listed at 203,685 acres yesterday with 15% Containment.  Fire lines on the Northeast corner of the fire, on the Warm Springs Reservation, held yesterday with sustained winds of 20-25 miles per hour.  There was a significant column of smoke that was visible in that area yesterday afternoon when pockets of green burned within the containment lines.  Increased winds pose a hazard along road corridors and the fireline due to the possibility of falling fire-weakened trees. Hazard tree removal work along roads and constructed fireline continues throughout much of the Lionshead fire’s vast perimeter.

A virtual public meeting was held last night on the Lionshead Fire via Zoom and Facebook Live.  You can still watch the video on the Lionshead Fire Information page on Facebook.    There are a total of 1,425 personnel assigned to this fire.  The Lionshead fire was started by lightning on the evening of August 16th.

Distance Learning continues for students and families in the Jefferson County 509J school district.  Parents, youth and teachers are all navigating this new educational method and everyone is doing the best they can.  There are Goggle Classroom tutorial videos available online to assist families and information about distance learning for the K8 online at https://www.jcsd.k12.or.us/schools/wsk8/.  Tech help is available today from 7:30am – 7:30pm at the Warm Springs K8 Community Room and tech help will be going out on meal routes so that’s another way to get assistance with the technical aspects of distance learning

Yesterday’s Warm Springs community Covid-19 update reported 5 additional cases of Covid-19.  There are currently 24 persons with active COVID-19 receiving daily monitoring by Tribal and IHS staff and 6 close contacts receiving daily monitoring”   The Warm Springs Covid-19 Response team is celebrating a second Abbott testing machine received from the State of Oregon via a Tribal Incident Command Section request.  The additional machine allows more testing with results available in hours instead of days when tests are sent off to the State Lab.