The Pacific Northwest’s worst fire season on record and the organizations offering relief 

Oregon’s fire season runs from mid-May until the first steady autumn rains, and a typical year brings around 1,500 to 2,000 wildfires. Most are small and never make the news. But over the past few years, the state has seen many more fires. 2023 closed at around 260,000 acres burned, while 2024 set a modern record of nearly 1.93 million, one that stood less than two years. On August 2, 2026, Oregon surpassed its record. Roughly 2 million acres have burned and 48 fires are still active, including the Rowe Creek Complex in central Oregon (320,000+ acres, 53% contained) and the Bench Fire near Warm Springs (66,000+ acres, 32% contained). Governor Kotek has invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act statewide. 

Around the same time in August, three wind-driven fires converged on Spokane in Washington state. The Spokane Complex has burned roughly 10,000 acres — a fraction of Oregon’s largest fire — but is still the most destructive wildfire in Washington’s history. At least 700 structures are gone, and roughly 65,000 people have evacuated. Washington has seen more than 1,000 fires and 425,000 acres burn this year, its worst since 2021, and a federal emergency declaration approved August 4 now covers six counties and three tribal nations. 

The same fire, very different losses 

Acreage is the least useful measure of what a fire season costs, and Spokane proves it: ten thousand acres, seven hundred homes. Whether a fire is survivable often comes down to whether a household has a working car, money for gas, and somewhere to go. 

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have been under a tribal state of emergency since July 25 — eight homes gone, 40,000 acres of grazing land lost, hundreds displaced, a boil-water notice active. The tribe was already 600 homes short before the fire started, so one lost house often displaces three generations. In Washington, the Kaiser Canyon Fire has burned more than 136,000 acres of the Colville Reservation, taking sacred sites with it. The Colville Tribes, the Spokane Tribe, and the Yakama Nation are all named in the federal declaration. 

Smoke from the fires widens the circle. Spokane’s air quality index passed 207 — “very unhealthy,” briefly the second worst in the country. Staying indoors works if your home seals and filters and your job allows it, which leaves out agricultural and outdoor workers. Oregon Health Authority names the pattern plainly: wildfire smoke falls hardest on tribal communities, communities of color, and low-income households. 

The people who stay after the smoke clears 

The organizations below span both states: Shelters and fire lines this week, Indigenous-led and Indigenous-serving groups, and small local nonprofits doing the rehousing and rebuilding long after the news cycle moves on.

Where to send help today to Oregon  

Indigenous-led and indigenous-serving organizations 

• CTWS Wildfire Recovery Fund — direct donations to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, supporting families who lost homes on the reservation. 

• Native Arts and Cultures Foundation — Portland-based indigenous-serving foundation currently accepting donations directed to the Warm Springs community. 

Organizations on the frontlines of the Oregon wildfire response 

• Community Services Consortium — Albany-based, running wildfire housing recovery programs for displaced households across the mid-Willamette Valley and central Oregon. 

• Bethlehem Inn — emergency shelter in Bend, inside the active Deschutes County fire zone and roughly 30 miles from Prineville. 

• Oregon Food Bank — statewide food distribution network feeding evacuees and the communities absorbing them. 

• Oregon Community Foundation — deploying rapid-response grants through its Disaster Readiness and Response Fund to local nonprofits and fire agencies. 

• United Way Columbia-Willamette — operating the Pacific Northwest Disaster Recovery Fund out of Portland. 

• United Way of the Pacific Northwest — regional recovery funding across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. 

• Oregon Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (ORVOAD) — the coordinating network that keeps voluntary organizations and volunteers from duplicating each other across a long response. 

National emergency response organizations 

• American Red Cross — running an active evacuee shelter at East Side Church, 3174 NE Third Street, Prineville. 

• Salvation Army Cascade Division — serving meals at evacuee sites across Oregon. 

• Mercy Corps — global disaster response organization headquartered in Portland. 

• Disaster Aid USA — Lanham, Maryland-based nonprofit delivering disaster relief and long-term community rebuilding support across the U.S. and abroad, with a small but deeply committed team focused on getting resources to the people and places most at risk.

Where to send help today to Washington 

Organizations on the frontlines of the wildfire response 

• Innovia Foundation — lead grantmaking coordinator for the Spokane Complex Wildfire Response Fund, serving 20 counties across Eastern Washington and North Idaho. 

• Second Harvest Inland Northwest — food distributions and mobile markets running in Spokane this week. 

• Catholic Charities Eastern Washington — emergency fund for wildfire victims — housing, counseling, essentials. 

• Feed Spokane — feeding evacuees across the Spokane area. 

• Partners Inland Northwest — food, clothing, hygiene, and diaper distributions out of Spokane Valley. 

• YMCA of Inland Northwest — showers and respite for evacuees, all branches open. 

• Project Beauty Share — hygiene and personal care items for displaced families and shelter residents. 

• SpokAnimal — emergency sheltering, supplies, and foster housing for evacuated pets. 

National emergency response organizations 

• Wildland Firefighter Foundation — support for the families of injured and fallen wildland firefighters. 

Bonterra’s extended customer service and nonprofit directory 

Nonprofits: Alongside our directory of verified nonprofits to support, we’re offering reduced-cost and free services to further aid our nonprofit customers on the ground. Request support with relief efforts like launching new donation campaigns, getting discounted software expansion licenses, or being added to our directory. Reach out to your Account Executive or email [email protected] today. 

Funders and CSR teams: If your team needs help using our platform to mobilize employee giving or direct grants to nonprofits responding to the wildfires, contact your Customer Success Manager or Account Executive. You can also launch or contribute to a giving campaign directly through Deed: Start a campaign on Deed. 

Further resources to help you mobilize 

• Fundraising appeal template: Email template for employee giving   

• Bonterra program overview video: Disaster relief & limited campaigns    

• Increase impact with a data-driven disaster response: Review the case study  

• Community Relief Impact Playbook: A long-term planning resource