On Tuesday afternoon, The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs launched an official recovery fund.
Showing image 1 of 5
Friends Tari Donohue, left, and Karen McCarthy load food, drinks, clothing and supplies for evacuees from the Bench Fire. They spent a total of $270.86 on supplies with money donated from community members.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 5
Lusina Oliver, left, and colleague Karen McCarthy load donated supplies into a trailer for evacuees of the Bench Fire at McCarthy’s garden store, Madras Garden Depot, in Madras, Ore., July 28, 2026. McCarthy posted a donation drive on a local Facebook page and says the response was overwhelming.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 5
Bruce Victorine drops off donated food, water and supplies. “I went to school with several of the people down there. So, I’m just caring for them and worried about it,” said Victorine, a 64 year Madras resident. “I drove a school bus down there and there’s a lot of really good people.”
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 5
Friends Tari Donohue, left, and Karen McCarthy, right, purchase clothing with donated funds, shopping at Bi-Mart in Madras.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 5
Friends Tari Donohue, left, and Karen McCarthy purchase items to support evacuees.
Eli Imadali / OPB
As wildfires spread throughout the state, destroying homes and evacuating thousands of people, Oregonians are finding ways to help those who are most impacted.
Karen McCarthy said she only expected to get about six donations when she posted on Facebook for people to drop off needed items at her business, the Madras Garden Depot. But after 19 hours, she had about 20 donors and over $450.
“I really believe in a good community,” McCarthy said, “and I think that’s the only way — by helping each other.”
McCarthy organized an impromptu mutual aid effort to get donations to tribal members and residents who have evacuated from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs reservation, north of Madras.
The Bench Fire nearby has burned more than 45,000 acres and was 0% contained as of Tuesday afternoon.
Some residents have had to evacuate as the fire makes its way deeper into tribal land. Others are dealing with occasional power outages, boil water notices and other hardships.
Jacob Billy, 57, said he evacuated from his home in Greely Heights on Saturday night when he received a Level 3 “Go Now!” evacuation notice.
“I was watching online, there’s a website that tells you the updates on the fires, and the police also came through right when we hit Level 3 evacuation, meaning: We need to get out of Dodge,” Billy said.
Showing image 1 of 21
Oregon State Fire Marshall structure protection task force lieutenant Ray Dandeneau keeps a look out as his crew works to protect a home from hot spots burning around it in the Bench Fire off of Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., on July 28, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Heavy smoke rolls off of a wildfire burning in Central Oregon, July 27, 2026. As of Tuesday, large fires covered more than 1.1 million acres, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Sarah Nairalez / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
A firefighting helicopter lands at Madras Municipal Airport in Madras, Ore., near the Bench Fire, on July 28, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
An Oakland Fire Department crew packs up after filling their tank up with water from the Deschutes River at the boat launch in Warm Springs, Ore., on July 28, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
A firefighting helicopter flies in the smokey skies near the Bench Fire in Madras, Ore., on July 28, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Ranzy Robinson with Campbell Forestry, a land clearing and defensible space company contracted with the Oregon Department of Forestry, refills a tank of water for aircrafts fighting the Bench Fire outside the Madras Municipal Airport in Madras, Ore., near the Bench Fire on July 28, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
The Bench Fire burns on the Warm Springs Reservation, seen from Culver, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
In the this long exposure, houses and farms sit in a Level 2 “Be Set” evacuation zone in Madras, Ore., as the Bench Fire glows in the distance on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Flames from the Bench Fire burn a tree off Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., among acres of land burned by the Bench Fire on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Acres of burned land from the Bench Fire surrounds cars driving on Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
The Bench Fire burns on the Warm Springs Reservation, seen from Culver, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
A firefighting crew hikes up a hillside while clearing brush just inside the Warm Springs Reservation, on the edge of the Bench and Beachcomber Fires, seen from Madras, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Clay Jacobsen of Seattle, Wash., stops to take a photo of the acres of burned land from the Bench Fire off Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., on July 27, 2026. “It looks apocalyptic,” said Jacobsen, who was traveling through the area while on a business trip.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Acres of burned land from the Bench Fire surrounds cars driving on Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Small fires, set by a firefighting crew to use fuels, burn on the Roberts property off of Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., among acres of land burned by the Bench Fire on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
The Bench Fire burns on the Warm Springs Reservation, seen from Culver, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
A canyon hillside is charred from the Bench Fire off Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
A smokey sunset from the Bench Fire dips over a neighborhood in Madras, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
United States Fire Service firefighters, formerly a Bureau of Land Management crew, eat Thai food together after getting off of the line of the Bench Fire on a smokey evening in Madras, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
A firetruck drives on a road off of Highway 26 between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., among acres of land burned by the Bench Fire on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Showing image 1 of 21
Fires burn on a charred hillside off NW Pelton Dam Road between Warm Springs and Madras, Ore., as thick smoke rises beyond from the Bench Fire on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
He packed up a toothbrush, toothpaste, his important papers and left for an evacuation center that had been set up at a cafeteria on the reservation, he told OPB.
As the fires began to displace people like Billy, McCarthy said she looked for a way to help.
“I was trying to locate somebody in Warm Springs that could give me a definite answer — if they needed help, where they needed help,” she said.
She was trying to avoid just posting on Facebook, she said, and track down the best way to get food and supplies to Warm Springs residents. Since the fires began, Central Oregon community members have taken to social media offering help and asking where they can donate.
“We welcome donations to assist individuals and families impacted by the Bench Fire and Beachcomb Fire to meet immediate needs, and financial contributions to help us rebuild what was lost,” read the donation webpage. “We ask that you coordinate donations and volunteer assistance through designated Tribal contacts.”
In Portland, donations are gathered to support Warm Springs residents impacted by the Bench Fire. Loretta Guzman, left, and Gilbert Brown, unload baby wipes, toothbrushes and other supplies donated by Painted Horse Recovery and dropped off at the Bison Coffee House in Portland, Ore., on July 28, 2026.
