Firefighters combat quick-spreading wildfires endangering giant sequoias and Sierra Nevada’s small communities on Monday. They worked to fully surround an alleged arson wildfire that burned houses last week. Over 2,000 firefighters were working together to battle the fires in Windy Fire burning on the Tule River Indian Reservation and in Sequoia National Forest, including Giant Sequoia National Monument.
According to a Sequoia National Forest statement the fire spread up to 11 square miles in 24 hours, burning more than 133 square miles. Only 2% of the fire was controlled.
Several small communities were asked to evacuate and were sent warnings to be prepared to leave. Approximately 2,000 homes and 100 business establishments were in danger. Two commercial structures have been damaged.
Two fires towards the north in Sequoia National Park were ignited by lightning. Then they combined more than 73 square miles were covered after spreading largely during the weekend. 8% of the KNP Complex was controlled, according to a statement from Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, which have both been forced to close.
Towards the northern border of the fire, firefighters utilized controlled burns for Muir Grove, a hidden group of giant sequoias found at the end of a trail, to be cleared.
Last week, firefighters shielded the well-known ancient trees of Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest from the fire because of its history of prescribed burns. They also wrapped the bases of some trees with fire-resistant materials.
In California Central Valley’s far north end, the firefighters controlled about 60% of the Fawn Fire after 184 homes and other buildings were scorched in an unincorporated region north of the city of Redding.
According to Josh Bischof, an operations section chief with the incident management team, firefighters were concentrating on mopping up and keeping guards to mitigate further growth of the fire.
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A report from San Francisco Chronicle stated that a 30-year-old woman was suspected of arson and was arrested for allegedly starting the Fawn Fire. According to the report, the woman was hiking to Canada and attempted to boil a puddle of water with the aim of purifying it before drinking. However, she believed she’d failed to light a fire and then continued walking.
In recent years, wildfires have become harder to fight because of the historic drought in the American West plus the effects of climate change. In California alone, millions of trees have been burned. According to scientists, the West has become much warmer and drier in the past 30 years because of climate change plus the weather will become more extreme and wildfires more recurring and damaging.
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