SEATTLE (AP) - The wildfire that has scorched thousands of acres in Kittitas County may offer a glimpse at worsening fire conditions in Washington state. The Seattle Times reports that fire ecologists for years have warned about high wildfire danger brought on by a century of fire suppression, decades of ill-conceived timber harvesting, a reluctance to thin out overly thick forests and a jump in the number of people living in the woods. Rising temperatures and pest invasions helped along by a warming planet have promised only to make things worse. The state projects that in the next 15 years 3 million acres in Eastern Washington - roughly one-third of all the state's forestland east of the Cascades - will see significant die-offs or tree damage from bugs and disease.
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