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Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest so far unscathed by wildfire

Western Wildfires
Posted at 12:23 PM, Sep 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-21 15:23:18-04

The ancient massive trees of Sequoia National Park's famed Giant Forest are unscathed even though a wildfire has been burning near them in California's Sierra Nevada for nearly two weeks.

Fire spokesman Mark Garrett says Tuesday that so far there has been no damage to any of the trees.

The KNP Complex of two lightning-sparked fires that merged has burned 25,147 acres since September 9, feeding on other types of trees on the high-elevation mountain slopes.

It is 0% contained.

Fire officials say areas in the Giant Forest area where prescribed fires were completed previously helped reduce the fire's intensity.

Protection of the giant sequoia trees is one of the firefighters' top priorities, along with protecting the park's infrastructure.

To the south, the Windy Fire in the Giant Sequoia National Monument has scorched part of at least one giant tree, but fire officials say it could take days to complete a preliminary assessment of the fire's effects on the sequoias because of the inaccessible terrain.

The Windy Fire has burned 27,183 acres and is 5% contained.