Four Draper City firefighters deployed Thursday, July 30, to help battle the Grasshopper Fire, a 15,000-acre wildfire burning through Mt. Hood National Forest with zero percent containment.

The crew joined two Utah task forces under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, the same interstate mutual-aid framework that sent 12 Utah agencies west this week, as we reported July 29.

Now the fire they're heading into has a name and a scope. The Grasshopper Fire ignited July 23 near Rocky Butte after several lightning storms, according to ABC4, citing the US Forest Service. Hot, dry weather and wind pushed flames rapidly east and north from their origin point north of Forest Road 4812.

As of July 30, the fire remained entirely uncontained. Officials have closed the entire Mt. Hood National Forest.

The blaze is burning largely in the Badger Creek Wilderness, about 21 miles south of Odell, Oregon, according to Columbia Gorge News. Level 3 "Go Now" evacuation orders are in effect for Pine Hollow, Wamic, and Sportsmans Park in Wasco County. No homes have been reported damaged, though the status of Forest Service structures in the wilderness area remains unknown.

More than 200 personnel were assigned to the fire as of July 28, with safety officers from Australia joining the effort. Maryellen Fitzgerald, public information officer for the fire, told Columbia Gorge News on July 28 that crews are focused on the blaze's south and east edges. "Getting residents home is what's driving us," Fitzgerald said. "Folks at the Barlow Ranger District have been evacuated, so this is also home for us."

Oregon has invoked its Emergency Conflagration Act for the Grasshopper Fire, the 11th time the state has triggered that declaration in 2026, KPTV reported. Separately, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announced July 29 that the fire will receive one of three federal grants covering up to 75% of firefighting costs, according to the Statesman Journal.

The Draper crew is on a 14-day mission but can be recalled early if Utah's own fire conditions worsen. Utah has held the nation's highest wildfire preparedness level since July 18, and Draper sits in a wildland-urban interface zone at elevated risk.

The Draper City Fire Department posted on social media July 30 wishing its crew a safe deployment but did not name a spokesperson or address whether the four-person absence affects local response capacity.

The crew's 14-day window would bring them home by mid-August, barring an early recall.