Wasco County Fair Board calls emergency meeting as Grasshopper Fire threatens area
Jeff Justesen
Tygh Valley, Ore., Aug. 11, 2026 — The Wasco County Fair Board has called an emergency meeting for 6 p.m. tonight, Aug. 11 as the growing Grasshopper Fire encroaches on the Tygh Valley area, raising questions about whether conditions will allow the county fair to proceed safely. It is scheduled for Thursday-Sunday Aug. 13-16.
The meeting will be held at the Dew Drop Inn at the Wasco County Fairgrounds in Tygh Valley, with a remote option also available. The agenda calls for Wasco County Commissioner Jeff Justesen to provide an update on the Grasshopper Fire before the board considers possible action.
Justesen said Tuesday afternoon that county officials need the most current information available before the Fair Board makes a decision.
“We have to talk through our options and our risks and the current fire situation and make an appropriate decision for people’s safety,” Justesen said. “What that will be, we still do not know.”
Justesen said he and Wasco County Sheriff Lane Magill planned to attend the 5 p.m. fire operations meeting tonight at the incident command camp, about 2 miles from the fairgrounds, before returning with updated information for the Fair Board.
The rapidly changing nature of the fire means the board could face anything from continuing the fair as planned to responding to an evacuation order, Justesen said.
“It could be anything from the fire moving in and we’re getting an evac that pushes us out anyway, or day to day,” he said.
Conditions at the fairgrounds Tuesday afternoon offered little indication of what might happen later.
“Like right now, it’s smoky here, but it feels like the fair could go on and all be good,” Justesen said, noting that while the flag at the fairgrounds was barely moving, he had heard winds were blowing considerably harder on Tygh Ridge.
Justesen said the latest information from fire managers will be brought back to the Fair Board Tuesday evening.
“The sheriff and I will come back with that information for the Fair Board and make a decision,” he said.
