6 homes lost, thousands under evacuation orders as Bench and Beachcomb fires combine in Central Oregon

Large swaths of Central Oregon have become consumed by wildfire, with several blazes burning across the region simultaneously, forcing thousands to evacuate and further stretching the state’s limited firefighting resources.

Over the weekend, the Bench Fire just west of Madras quickly grew to more than 20,000 acres with 0% containment. That led to Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation orders for the entirety of Warm Springs and other areas of Jefferson County.

Officials said Monday at least six homes and five outbuildings had been destroyed.

The Beachcomb Fire, also located near the reservation, combined with the Bench Fire by Sunday. On Monday morning, officials announced the two fires were together being called the Bench Fire and had collectively burned more than 40,000 acres.

Highway 26 was temporarily closed at one point over the weekend between Warm Springs and Madras as firefighters worked to get the fire under control. The highway closed again Sunday between Prineville and John Day, except to local traffic and local deliveries, and had not reopened as of Monday morning.

Interstate 84 was closed between Baker City and Ontario Monday morning due to wildfires. State transportation officials warned that erratic and rapidly spreading fires could further impact the freeway and other roads east of the Cascades, including U.S. Highways 26 and 20.

The recent evacuations and road closures come as Oregon is experiencing one of the most aggressive wildfire seasons in years. A historically low snowpack over the winter has led to tinderbox conditions across much of the state. Officials say Oregon is experiencing August-like fire conditions in July.

Oregon currently has more than 34 active large fires burning statewide, covering more than 1 million acres, according to Jessica Neujahr, public affairs officer for the Oregon Department of Forestry.

She said conditions are so dry that “any small ember right now could potentially start the next large wildfire.” And the increasing number of fires is taxing the limited number of firefighters available.

“If they’re already assigned to a fire, we can’t just pull them off of it,” Neujahr said. “We are definitely looking at fires and having to start prioritizing which ones are going to be staffed appropriately.”

The Bench Fire had moved rapidly toward Warm Springs on Saturday, jumping the Deschutes River and prompting thousands to evacuate.

“Unfortunately, it did jump the line that they put in that first night, and then ever since that, it’s been growing pretty rapidly,” said Matthew Wilcox, public information officer for the Central West Zone Type Three Incident Management Team.

Wilcox said there are more than 200 fire personnel working on the Bench Fire. The Oregon State Fire Marshal invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act for the fire late Saturday night, assigning the state’s Red Incident Management Team and additional resources.

Public safety officials said the fires have been difficult to manage, with conditions remaining hot, dry and windy across the region. That, in turn, has led to frequent evacuation updates.

“We are trying to keep you as updated as possible and making sure all the notifications go out to the impacted people in the community. And as we typed this out, levels changed, then changed again,” the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook on Saturday.

Billy Ayers with the Red Cross was out front of a shelter in Madras on Sunday afternoon as churchgoers went into the chapel for service. He said they housed five people at the shelter overnight as the wind and fire picked up along the edges of Madras.

One of the families staying at the shelter included an aunt who was watching her siblings’ kids. Ayers said firefighters evacuated her and the kids to make sure she was in a safe place as the fire activity picked up.

Another couple came in around 1:30 in the morning.

“They were out and realized that they couldn’t get home,” Ayers said.

Ayers said he told the evacuees he would hold their cots in case they needed to be back.

The nearby Akawa Butte Fire has burned more than 27,000 acres and remains at 6% containment. It has been named the number-one priority fire in the country, due to its proximity to Sisters.

The largest fire in the state is the Rowe Creek Fire Complex, which has burned more than 208,000 acres and impacted much of Wheeler County.

The Big Grass Fire in the southeastern corner of Oregon has reached nearly 200,000 acres in a largely unpopulated area. And the Hay Creek Complex Fire in north-central Oregon has grown to more than 181,000 acres as it’s been burning for more than 10 days. The perimeter of that fire was listed at 60% containment as of Monday morning.