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Firefighters in California's Sequoia National Park are racing to protect its iconic trees from advancing wildfires, going so far as to wrap some of them in fire-proof aluminum blankets. Officials fear the Colony Fire could reach the park's Giant Forest—a grove of roughly 2,000 giant sequoias, including the General Sherman tree, considered the world's largest tree by volume—within a day.
“They are taking extraordinary measures to protect these trees,” said Christy Brigham, chief of resource management and science at Sequoia & Kings Canyon national parks. “Even though we have done all of this prescribed fire and feel like the fire behavior when it gets in there—if it gets in there—will be fairly moderate, we just really want to do everything we can to protect these 2,000- and 3,000-year-old trees."
Giant sequoias have thick, fire-resistant bark, and low intensity blazes actually help the trees by releasing seeds and removing dead needles and brush. However, hotter fires driven by climate change can prove deadly. “These trees have survived hundreds of fires over thousands of years," said Brigham. “But there have been a couple major changes—a century of fire suppression combined with climate change-driven hotter droughts. That has meant fires that are burning hotter with taller flame lengths.”
Stands of ancient sequoias have been decimated in recent fire seasons. Last year's Castle Fire killed an estimated 7,500 to 10,600 giant sequoias, according to National Park Service estimates. With multiple wildfires burning near sequoia groves in the Eastern Sierra and firefighters unable to access many areas due to steep terrain, the threat is expected to continue.
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“If Secretary Haaland can come here then that would be a really big thing. With our lawsuit we can bring this to the president’s attention. He can, by the stroke of his pen, shut things down. So that’s what we’re hoping for.”
