On this West Virginia Morning, high winds Wednesday fanned more than 20 fires across the state. As Chris Schulz reports, the largest of those fires is still burning.

And, the population in central Appalachia has been in decline for decades. As jobs went away, young people did, too. Now, a series of population estimates shows things might get even worse. Journalist Jim Branscome grew up in southwestern Virginia and recently covered this story. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with him.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Chris Schulz, Eric Douglas, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.

Eric Douglas is our news director and produced this episode. Teresa Wills is our host.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:49 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning