The KNP Complex fire reaches the edge of the Giant Forest, which is home to about 2,000 giant sequoias.
Photos of the Windy fire near the Tule River Reservation in the Sequoia National Forest as crews from the Sierra Cobras and Roosevelt Hotshots fight it.Giant sequoias are considered one of the most fire-adapted species on Earth, but experts say the drought-stressed treesstoked by climate change and a buildup of dry vegetation in western U.S. forests.
As of Saturday morning, the fire had not affected most of the Giant Forest, including the famed General Sherman tree, believed to be the largest in the world by volume, Bekkerus said. The tree is on the north end of the forest.“We don’t know exactly what will happen today,” Bekkerus said. “Today may be an active fire day.”Researchers now believe a wildfire last year killed 10% to 14% of the world’s natural sequoia population.
Hotshots specially trained in setting low-intensity fires were also prepared to light off duff around the trees if necessary, depending on how the fire progresses, he said.since the 1960s to remove excess vegetation that could help fire burn hotter and carry it up into the crowns of the trees, Bekkerus said.
Giant sequoias grow only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, where there are roughly 70 groves. Last year, the Castle fire burned through portions of about 20 of those groves with such an intensity that it caused some trees’ crowns to combust and destroyed their cones rather than helping them release seeds. Researchers estimate the fire killed 7,500 to 10,600 trees — 10% to 14% of the world’s natural population.
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