The trees require large amounts of water which they receive mostly from snowmelt that accumulates over the winter months and soaks into the ground.įire is vital to reproduction of the trees, whose cones require high heat to crack open and release seeds. The oldest known redwood fossils date back to the Jurassic period around 200 million years ago. Giant sequoias, the world's largest trees by mass and insulated by thick, spongy bark, have coexisted for millennia with lightning-sparked fires considered part of the natural balance of healthy redwood forests. No injuries have been reported in the blaze, dubbed the Washburn fire, and its cause remained under investigation.
'We're feeling confident of the plan we have in place today,' Phillipe told Reuters by phone. While flames stoked by extremely dry, hot conditions worsening on Sunday have burned largely unchecked, none of Yosemite's landmark sequoias, some of them over 3,000 years old and given names, have yet been lost.įirefighters were taking special measures to protect the grove, clearing away undergrowth that could add to the fuel bed and deploying ground-based sprinkler systems to increase humidity levels around them. The park's best-known attractions, including Yosemite Valley, remain accessible to visitors from its western entrance.įederal wildfire officials on Sunday warned that air quality for particulate matter had reached unhealthy levels across much of the park. The Park Service also has shut down the southern entrance to the park, which Phillipe said draws about four million visitors a year. The fire fighters are also removing any foliage that could fuel the fire from around the Sequoias trees, stopping the flames from reaching them.įlames raced through the treeline spanning 250 acres on Friday, a day after fire was first reported by visitors on the Washburn Trail of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.Ĭoming at the height of the summer tourist season, the evacuations displaced an estimated 1,600 people in all, according to Park Service spokesperson Nancy Phillipe.īut smoke and soot have dimmed views of landmarks such as the towering granite formations of El Capitan and Half Dome, as well as Bridalveil Fall and surrounding cliffs. The Yosemite fire and aviation management department is protecting the grove by setting up a sprinkler system to keep the flames away. National Park Service personnel immediately closed the Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 mature giant sequoias, and evacuated the adjacent community of Wawona and the Wawona Hotel and campground. A wildfire threatening some of the world's oldest giant sequoia trees in California's Yosemite National Park expanded five-fold over the weekend as smoke prompted air quality alerts throughout the park.Īpproximately 360 fire fighters are tackling the blaze that has scorched nearly 1,600 acres of timber and brush at the southern end of the park.