5:51 a.m. PDT Sept. 17, 2021
KNP Complex of fires, 3-D map, looking northeast, 8 p.m. PDT Sept. 16, 2021. The bright red areas had intense heat when the fire was mapped. Green represents the approximate location of giant sequoia groves.In order to protect the largest tree in the world from a wildfire in Sequoia National Park extraordinary measures are being taken. In an effort to prepare a grove of giant sequoias for the expected spread of the KNP Complex of fires into the area, personnel are attaching fire resistant material usually used on structures on some of the iconic monarch sequoias that characterize the most famous area of Sequoia National Park. Firefighters are also carefully burning out around the largest or most vulnerable trees, basically treating them again with prescribed fire.
General Sherman sequoia tree with protective wrap Sept. 16, 2021. NPS photo.The KNP Complex of fires ignited by lightning on September 9 is growing in all directions in Sequoia National Park in Southern California. The complex is comprised of the Paradise and the Colony Fires. A mapping flight Thursday night found that the combined size of the two, which were about a quarter-mile apart, was approximately 11,300 acres.
To see all of the articles on Wildfire Today about the KNP Complex of fires, including the most recent, click HERE.
North of the Paradise Fire is the Giant Forest, a grove of very large giant sequoias. In this area is the General Sherman, the world’s largest tree measured by volume. It stands 275 feet tall, and is over 36 feet in diameter at the base. The National Park Service has been managing this grove with prescribed fire since the 1960s which will help the monster trees fend off the fire, but the multi-year drought has led to historically low fuel moistures, leading to concern that they could be damaged by these very intense fires.
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office is maintaining a map showing the areas under evacuation orders.
KNP Complex of fires, map, 8 p.m. PDT Sept. 16, 2021. The bright red areas had intense heat when the fire was mapped. Green represents the approximate location of giant sequoia groves.On Thursday fire activity picked up in the late afternoon with terrain driven surface spread and short crown fire runs as the smoke cleared, humidity levels dropped, and the temperature increased.
Firefighters from CAL FIRE are building an indirect dozer line southwest of the Paradise Fire outside the National Park, a project that is expected to take several days to complete. It starts at park headquarters near the Ash Mountain Entrance and runs southeast along the toe of Paradise Ridge south of Milk Ranch.
There are multiple large giant sequoia groves and structures southeast of the Paradise Fire that could be threatened, including Atwell Grove, Silver City Resort, and Mineral King Ranger Station.
Resources assigned to the fire include 10 hand crews, 28 engines, and 8 helicopters for a total of 416 personnel.
Protecting the Sequoia National Park sign with structure protection wrap, September 14, 2021. InciWeb.
