World’s largest tree wrapped in fire-resistant
blanket as California blaze creeps closer
Efforts underway to protect General Sherman and other
giant trees from wildfires threatening Sequoia national park
The General Sherman sequoia, the world's largest tree
in Sequoia National Park
Trees in California’s Sequoia national park are being
protected with aluminium wrapping as firefighters attempt to contain multiple
wildfires in the area.
Associated
Press
Fri 17 Sep
2021 04.14 BST
Firefighters
have wrapped the base of the world’s largest tree in a fire-resistant blanket
as they tried to save a famous grove of gigantic old-growth sequoias from
wildfires burning in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada.
The
colossal General Sherman tree in Sequoia national park’s giant forest, some of
the other sequoias, the Giant Forest Museum and other buildings were wrapped as
protection against the possibility of intense flames, fire spokesperson Rebecca
Paterson said.
The
aluminium wrapping can withstand intensive heat for short periods. Federal
officials say they have been using the material for several years throughout
the US west to protect sensitive structures from flames. Homes near Lake Tahoe
that were wrapped in protective material survived while others nearby were
destroyed.
The Colony
fire, one of two burning in Sequoia national park, was expected to reach the
Giant Forest, a grove of 2,000 sequoias, at some point on Thursday. It comes
after a wildfire killed thousands of sequoias, some as tall as high-rises and
thousands of years old, in the region last year.
The General
Sherman tree is the largest in the world by volume, at 1,487 cubic meters,
according to the National Park Service. It towers 84 meters high and has a
circumference of 31 meters at ground level.
A 50-year
history of using prescribed burns – fires set on purpose to remove other types
of trees and vegetation that would otherwise feed wildfires – in the parks’
sequoia groves was expected to help the giant trees survive by lessening the
impact if flames reach them.
A “robust
fire history of prescribed fire in that area is reason for optimism”, Paterson
said. “Hopefully, the Giant Forest will emerge from this unscathed.”
Giant
sequoias are adapted to fire, which can help them thrive by releasing seeds
from their cones and creating clearings that allow young sequoias to grow. But
the extraordinary intensity of fires – fuelled by climate change – can
overwhelm the trees. That happened last year when the Castle fire killed what
studies estimate were 7,500 to 10,600 large sequoias, according to the National
Park Service.
A historic
drought and heat waves tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to
fight in the American west. Scientists say climate change has made the region
much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather
more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
The fires
forced the evacuation of the park this week, and parts of the town of Three
Rivers outside the main entrance remained evacuated Thursday. A bulldozer was
cutting a line between the fire and the community.
The
wildfires are among the latest in a long summer of blazes that have scorched
nearly 9,195 sq km in California, destroying hundreds of homes.
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