Wildfire hits giant forest in Sequoia National Park

by



[ad_1]

Sequoia National Park firefighters were working overnight after two wildfires merged to reach the giant forest on Saturday.

Why is this important: This forest contains more than 2,000 giant sequoias, including the General Sherman Tree, the world’s largest tree by volume. Park officials wrapped the redwoods in foil last week as the Paradise and Colony Fires, now known as the KNP Complex Fire, approached. Protection efforts seemed to work overnight.

A US Forest Service vehicle at the Sequoia National Park Historic Park entrance sign, which has been wrapped in fire-resistant foil along the Generals Highway. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

What is happening: Park officials said in a statement just after 1 a.m. Sunday ET that the blaze had reached the cluster of redwoods known as the “Four Guards,” which marks the entrance to the giant forest.

  • But the statement from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks added that “the fuel disposal efforts of the firefighters, combined with the structural envelope applied by the teams at the base of the iconic redwoods, have succeeded in protecting these treasures. national “.

Threat level: The fire at the KNP complex was to remain active all night, according to InciWeb. A red flag warning was in place until Sunday.

  • “Crews are bracing for changes and possible significant increases in fire activity,” according to a statement from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks earlier Saturday.

Enlarge: Lightning started the fires in Paradise and Colony on September 10.

  • John Wallace, a chief of operations with the Incident Command team tasked with fighting the wildfire, confirmed in a live-broadcast update on Saturday that “we now have a fire that developed together yesterday. “.
  • The blaze had burned 17,857 acres and was 0% contained on Saturday, according to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Zoom out: California has been hit by several large wildfires this year, and this mega-fire is among 10 large fires burning in the state. 73 large fires are burning in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

  • A UN report last month revealed that there is an “unequivocal” link between man-made global warming and extreme weather events.

Go back: Last year’s castle fire raging in the Sierra Nevada destroyed 10 to 14 percent of Earth’s mature sequoias, according to a preliminary report from National Park Service scientists discovered in June.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with more details about the fire and the background.

[ad_2]

Source link