Out-of-control wildfire threatens Yosemite's famed sequoia trees

Zachary Rosenthal
·3 min read
Out-of-control wildfire threatens Yosemite's famed sequoia trees
(National Park Service via AP)

California's wildfire season is already getting off to a devastating start. A new fire burning in California's beautiful Yosemite National Park has consumed over 3,200 acres, threatening the park's famous giant sequoia trees and spinning up at least one firenado.

On Sunday, the fast-growing wildfire doubled in size, forcing campers and residents near the blaze to evacuate as teams of firefighters worked to protect the iconic sequoias and the small Yosemite town of Wawona.

Residents in Wawona were forced to evacuate last Friday as the blaze grew in size and ferocity, according to reporting from The Associated Press. As the blaze grew stronger, it even spun up at least one firenado, a dazzling but dangerous rotating column of smoke, fire and strong winds, kicking debris up into the air, nearly hitting a firefighting plane but causing no serious injuries, according to SFGate.

"Hey, just want to let you know, a branch went over the top of us," the pilot said to dispatchers. "So if we keep seeing that, we might have to knock it off. I don't want to take a chance of busting a window on an airplane or hurting an aircraft for this."

Despite the Washburn Fire, the rest of Yosemite remained open to visitors as of early Monday, but smoke from the blaze has impacted the air quality and caused typically scenic views to be covered behind a cloud of thick smoke.

"Today, it's actually the smokiest that we've seen," Nancy Phillipe, a Yosemite fire information spokesperson, said Sunday to The Associated Press. "Up until this morning, the park has not been in that unhealthy category, but that is where we are now."

FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2020, file photo, fire burns in the hollow of an old-growth redwood tree in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Calif. Sequoia National Park was shut down and its namesake gigantic trees were potentially threatened Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, as two forest fires burned in steep and dangerous terrain in California's Sierra Nevada. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Thankfully, even as the fire has grown, none of the named giant sequoia trees in the famous Mariposa Grove have been severely damaged, including the most famous giant sequoia, the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant.

The grove, which officials had long believed was out of the range of devastating wildfires, is now more commonly threatened by what are becoming increasingly regular blazes. Phillipe told The Associated Press that the park service uses a sprinkler system to keep the ground and tree trunks moist and that officials are hopeful that the flames will not breach the grove.

Over the past two years, numerous wildfires, most caused by lightning, have killed nearly a fifth of the 75,000 sequoias that make up Yosemite National Park, according to the AP. The exact cause of the Washburn Fire is unclear; visitors to the grove first reported seeing smoke on July 7.

AccuWeather forecasters had predicted an intense wildfire season in the West, with an extreme risk of fires spread across a vast area. AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok and his team forecast 68,000 to 72,000 fires and 8.1 to 8.3 million acres burned across the west, a well-above-average season.

California experienced 3,598 fires through July 1, 400 fires more than average at this point in the year, according to Cal Fire. Despite the high number of fires, fewer acres of land have been burned than normal thus far, though

Conditions are expected to remain unseasonably warm in and around Yosemite National Park. The average high at this time of year is 89 degrees Fahrenheit; temperatures this week are set to climb into the mid- to upper 90s. In late June, the area saw back-to-back 100-degree days, with these hot and dry conditions helping to set the stage for the Washburn Fire.

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