As flames crept closer to California’s cherished sequoia trees firefighters took an unusual step to protect them.
The largest tree in the world has lived through millennia. Now the centerpiece of Sequoia National Park is endangered by the California wildfires burning nearby.
California wildfires are inching closer to groves of gigantic ancient sequoias. The General Sherman Tree, the largest in the world by volume, is under threat pic.twitter.com/qgU35uvaVC
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) September 19, 2021
The Colony and Paradise fires have been growing for a week. They have been driven by higher temperatures and extreme drought conditions. Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
Fire crews are on standby after two wildfires merged into one, reaching the edges of the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park.
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Firefighters are wrapping fire-resistant blankets around ancient trees — including the 275 ft General Sherman, the biggest tree by volume on Earth — and historic signs as blazes tear through California's world-famous Sequoia National Park.
Get updates from @SequoiaKingsNPS pic.twitter.com/6MIXPhDExt— American Forests (@AmericanForests) September 17, 2021
Firefighters wrapped the base of the world's largest tree in a fire-resistant blanket as they tried to save a famous grove of gigantic old-growth sequoias from wildfires burning in California's rugged Sierra Nevada.
The aluminum wrapping can withstand intensive heat for short periods. Federal officials say they have been using the material for several years throughout the U.S. West to protect sensitive structures from flames.
Fire crews in California's Sequoia National Park have wrapped General Sherman, the world's largest tree, in flame-resistant aluminum as wildfires threaten the giants. Fires have burned into several groves of trees as tall as 200 feet and 2,000 years old. https://t.co/inrgAfmV0z
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 18, 2021
Sequoias, which can live to be about 3,000 years old, had already been discovered by the Native American tribes that inhabited the Sierra Nevada. They believed to be some of the world’s most ancient, became a national landmark in the mid-19th century. Some of the trees — such as Hamilton, General Grant, General Sherman, and others — are named for American leaders, and their histories are enmeshed with the then-nascent country’s history and politics.
Giant sequoias are adapted to fire, which can help them thrive by releasing seeds from their cones and creating clearings that allow young sequoias to grow. But the extraordinary intensity of fires – fueled by climate change – can overwhelm the trees.
