Man pleads guilty in series of wildfires

ELLENSBURG – An Ellensburg man has pleaded guilty to nearly a dozen arson-related charges connected to a string of wildfires that caused more than $1 million in property damage in Kittitas County.

Wade K. Kirkwood, 36, pleaded guilty Monday in Kittitas County Superior Court to two counts of first-degree arson for two fires that destroyed buildings west of Thorp on the east slope of the Cascades.

Kirkwood also pleaded guilty to seven counts of second-degree arson for damage to rangeland, crops, timber and property, and two counts of second-degree reckless burning.

Kirkwood’s trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 31.

“This will bring closure to a long, costly, labor-intensive investigation,” county Sheriff Gene Dana said in a statement.

Kirkwood, a construction worker, was arrested last September after weeks of investigation by the county Arson Task Force. He became the prime suspect last August after reports that his vehicle had been seen in the area of a fire that was started Aug. 12.

The arrest was a breakthrough for authorities who had been scrambling to find the person responsible for setting dozens of fires in the past two years.

Some 20 intentionally set blazes burned more than 14,000 acres in Kittitas County last year alone.

The string of fires prompted the sheriff to push for an arson registry as a tool to deter future crimes. According to the state Fire Marshal’s Office, 35 percent to 64 percent of arsonists are repeat offenders.