Two Lightning Fires In Sequoia NP Total 1,000 Acres, 0% Containment About 1 Mile From Giant Grove

[hatrack]

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A pair of lightning-sparked fires raging in Sequoia National Park more than quintupled in 24 hours, burning ever closer to groves of the largest trees on Earth and forcing the evacuations of park employees and nearby residents.

The Paradise and Colony fires — collectively called the KNP Complex — exploded to 5,861 acres by Tuesday afternoon, a leap of more than 4,800 acres from the day prior. Flames from the blaze, which has no containment, were lapping a little bit closer to dense areas of towering giant sequoia trees, according to Mark Ruggiero, a spokesperson for the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. An inversion layer over the fire lifted, causing it to pick up and tear through intense fuels, including drought-stricken trees further destroyed by bark beetles, and into drainage areas in the rugged terrain, said Ruggiero, who added that "the fire has intensified tremendously."

Flames were lapping about a mile from the famed Giant Forest, the largest concentration of towering giant sequoias in the park and home to the 275-foot General Sherman tree — considered the world's largest tree by volume, Ruggiero said. The fires were nearer to the grove, but not yet an "imminent threat," he said.

The fires, which began Thursday as storms rolled into the southern Sierra Nevada region, have been upgraded to a "type one" incident management category, which Ruggiero said is the highest level, bringing more resources to the blaze.

EDIT

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/9/14/2052280/-Zero-contained-lightning-sparked-wildfires-in-Sequoia-National-Park-threaten-its-towering-trees#comment_81830320

[femmedem]

1. Oh no. This is just so sad.

It's so painful to know that these giant, ancient trees are in danger of being destroyed because we couldn't get our act together, despite decades of warning about what greenhouse gas emissions would do.

[liberalla]

2. Oh gawd! Hoping against hope that something happens to move the fires

away from the Grove. Wind change?

The thought that these trees may burn down just sickens me...