A helicopter drops water over the burning Windy Fire in the trail of 100 Giants Grove in Sequoia National Forest, California.
In the wake of California wildfires, 10,000 trees weakened by fire, drought, disease or age must be removed, actions that will keep a nearby highway closed to visitors looking for the world’s two largest sequoia trees.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks said Friday that threatened trees could potentially fall on people and cars, known as the General Highway of State Route 180, or they could create barriers to emergency and fire response. can do.
The highway is closed due to a fire at the KNP Complex, which contained 60% after burning down 138 square miles (357 sq km) of forest, and will remain blocked for visitors after the fire is extinguished, while employees cut trees and cut branches. chopped off . Cooler weather has helped slow the flames and rain is expected to begin in the area from Sunday.
The highway connects Giant Forest, which is home to the General Sherman Tree, considered the world’s largest by volume, and Grant Grove, home to the General Grant Tree, the second largest tree in the world. Fire spokeswoman Kimberly Kaschalk said trees along the highway included sequoias, pines and conifers.
The KNP complex has been burning since September 9, when lightning ignited two fires which later merged.
Forest officials said a fire earlier this month may have killed hundreds of giant sequoias, but the full extent of the damage has not been determined.
The effects of the fire on the giant sequoia trees were mixed. Most observed low- to moderate-intensity fire behaviors that have evolved to survive, and the most notable trees have survived.
Firefighters took extraordinary measures to protect the sequoia by wrapping fire-resistant material around some veterans’ bases, raking and clearing the vegetation around them, installing sprinklers, and dousing some with water or fire-retardant gel.
On Friday, forest personnel opened the foundation of the General Sherman tree after the fire threat was averted.
“We believe the tree is relatively safe,” Kaschalk said.
Drought in the West is linked to climate change, making it harder to fight wildfires. Scientists say climate change has made the West much hotter and drier over the past 30 years—meaning that rain and snow that falls are likely to evaporate or be absorbed into the soil—and that could further worsen the weather. more extreme and would make wildfires more frequent and destructive. .
Recent storms have helped contain some of the nation’s biggest wildfires this year, including threatening the popular Lake Tahoe resort area this summer and now 100% contained in the western side of the fire after a blanket of snow And it has rained on the eastern side. But this week’s hurricanes won’t put an end to the drought ravaging California and the western United States.
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