Nestled on the Western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range live isolated patches of some of the world's oldest and most magnificent species of tree.
July 14, 2022, 6:02 AMGetty Images
Sequoia National Park, about 150 miles northwest of the Mariposa Grove, faced a similar predicament in September, when the KNP Complex Fire ravaged nearby terrain unabated. In addition, the massive circumference of the base -- upwards of 100 feet in many cases -- allows for water transport to continue up to the crown of the tree even if a significant area on the outer tree is burned, Stephenson said.
But those fires -- likely flame lengths measuring at less than 3 feet, can't compare to the infernos seen today, Adrian Das, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Ecological Research Center, told ABC News. But one of the worst droughts in recorded history in California killed tens of millions of trees between 2012 and 2016, Das said.A large plume from the Washburn Fire rises over Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, Calif., on July 11, 2022.Because of the heavy fuel, fires are burning so intensely and ferociously hot that they are
After a century of fire suppression, plentiful fuel on the forest floor -- and even "ladder fuels" consisting of dead trees that are still standing -- are allowing the intense fires to reach the foliage from the crown of sequoias, Stephenson said. Swetnam described the loss of the trees as agonizing for the Park Service personnel who ensure their health.
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