The scale of devastation from a historic fire season of wildfire in the Pacific north-west has come into sharper focus as firefighters wrangle a trio of blazes that consumed at least 846 structures on the eastern side of the state…

“We are living through climate change and it’s accelerating,” said Dr Susan Prichard, a fire ecologist at the University of Washington. “There’s a longer window where if we get the dreaded ignitions – whether they’re accidental, or purposeful, or lightning – the forests become really receptive to burning.”