YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) – Donations have been pouring in from across the region for the victims of a fire that burned 18 homes and left 120 people homeless in a rural section of the Yakama Indian Reservation.

The fire in White Swan, about 30 miles southwest of Yakima in central Washington, was believed to have started in one home and was pushed through a neighborhood by high winds. Many other homes suffered damage.

Donation drop-offs have been set up in Selah, Zillah, Yakima, Wapato, Toppenish and White Swan.

At the Toppenish Armory, dozens of folding tables were loaded Feb. 16 with clothing sorted in piles 3 and 4 feet high, and the owner of the Toppenish Days Inn made room to host some people free of charge. In White Swan, the Wilbur Memorial United Methodist Church was packed with boxes and donations.

Tamara Spencer, one of the volunteer coordinators at the armory and the wife of Yakama National Tribal Council member Warren Spencer, said truckloads were still coming in with donations.

Volunteers say they still need nonperishable foods, toiletries, pet food, baby formula and other household items.

The state Emergency Management Department will meet Feb. 18 with Yakama Nation officials to begin assessing damage in White Swan, where many residents are tribal members. It's unclear whether the community will qualify for disaster relief on the county, state or federal levels, state Emergency Management spokesman Rob Harper said Feb. 16.

“How this all works will be determined as we speak with the tribal nation folks and their emergency management staff to assess the damage,” he said.

In the meantime, aid continues to arrive from private sources.

Late Feb. 16 afternoon, a truck from the Tutuilla Presbyterian Church in Pendleton, Ore., pulled up to the Toppenish Armory. Pastor Jack Schut and Cayuse Chief Jesse Jones Jr. stepped out of the truck while volunteers from the Washington Conservation Corps began to unload the attached trailer.

“We're a native church,” Schut said. “We told our church, they're our folks and we're going to donate.”

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Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic,
http://www.yakimaherald.com