Climate-Intensified Yosemite Fire Threatens Hundreds of Ancient Sequoias

Underscoring the need for meaningful action to address the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis, the Washburn Fire that started last week in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains has scorched more than 2,300 acres and remains 0% contained as of Monday morning, and the growing blaze is threatening hundreds of ancient sequoias in Yosemite National Park.

In addition to endangering more than 500 mature giant sequoias, the wildfire—burning on the southern end of the park, including in the historic Mariposa Grove—has also put the community of Wawona in jeopardy, prompting evacuation orders and a partial closure of Highway 41. Smoke from the fire is negatively affecting air quality as far away as the Bay Area, located about 200 miles to the west.

Firefighters are bracing for even more challenging conditions this week as hotter and drier weather is expected to pummel an already heatwave- and drought-ravaged region where, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), “tree mortality from 2013 to 2015 has left significant dead standing and dead fallen fuels.”

There are currently 61 active conflagrations raging in eight states, including 48 in Alaska, where nearly two million acres have been torched in recent weeks. So far in 2022, more than 35,200 wildfires have burned nearly 4.7 million acres, which “continues to be well above average for both wildfires and acres burned,” the NIFC said.

According to CBS News, the Washburn Fire “is so intense it’s creating its own weather system and causing updrafts powerful enough to launch debris up into the air.”

“Crews are making their way throughout the area, tasked with strategically planning containment lines to save hundreds of iconic sequoias,” the outlet reported.

One firefighter, standing in front of the Grizzly Giant, which he called “arguably one of the most famous trees on Earth,” explained how his team set up a sprinkler system around the over 200-foot-tall tree to give it “preventative first aid.” Crews are also removing dry vegetation from the ground near the trees, some of which are more than 2,000 years old, in a bid to slow the fire’s spread and limit potential damage.

As the Los Angeles Times noted:

Last year was a devastating fire season for the sequoias after twin wildfires destroyed about 3,600 of the ancient trees as flames sparked by lightning strikes tore through more than two dozen groves in Northern California, National Park Service officials said.

“Between 2015 and 2021, more than 85% of the acreage of all giant sequoia groves across the Sierra Nevada burned in wildfires, compared to 25% in the previous century,” the newspaper noted.

Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Kenny Stancil.