OLYMPIA, Wash. (KOMO) — Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday that this has been the worst fire season ever but the tipping point has come and Washington state can assist its neighbors to the south as they struggle to contain their wildfires.

But the governor and a fire ecologist warned during a news conference that if something isn’t done about climate change, conditions will worsen for the U.S.

Inslee said 620,000 acres have burned over the past several weeks, including 400 buildings that have been leveled by the wildfires and 200 miles of power lines have been felled.

“Now having said that, we are confident we will get these fires contained," Inslee said. "And we have been able to free up some resources to send to some of the biggest fires in other states.”

But officials predict this could be a harbinger of things to come.

“As bad as it is now (and) as high as the risks are now, they will continue to worsen as long as climate change is an issue,” said Dr. Crystal Raymond, a University of Washington fire ecologist. “We can expect to see more extreme fire danger days, longer fire seasons and overall greater acreage burned.”

Inslee said he was dismayed that President Donald Trump on a recent trip to California to see the fire damage didn’t grasp the seriousness of climate change.

Inslee also addressed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the state is grappling with.

He said he is saddened by the number of coronavirus deaths and case count in the state, but he is encouraged to see the trends in cases continue downward. He noted the grim milestone the state reached this week when it logged more than 2,000 deaths.

“We mourn every single one of those lives. They’re not just a number," Inslee said. "They are family that has suffered because of this pandemic. And those families are in our hearts and will be in the months to come.”

The governor also noted the other milestone the state has reached, logging 80,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Although the numbers are trending down, there is new concern that they could rise again.

After a couple of weeks of the virus transmission rates staying below 1.0, meaning deceleration of the spread, the rates have changed.

“I’m asking all Washingtonians to be leaders this fall in the battle against COVID. We can’t have groups of people without masks, without being socially distanced, who are not in our households," Inslee said.