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Fighting Fire With Fire: Protecting Sequoia Trees

As the flames advanced towards the famous grove of enormous forests located in Sequoia National Park, firefighters battled a fire on Thursday using fire too, a report said.

Firefighters conducted burning operations at the Giant Forest at almost a micro-scale and moving from tree to tree, Rebecca Paterson, a spokeswoman for Sequoia National Park stated.

Organic debris and ground cover called duff near the trees was ignited and allowed the flames to move away from the trees to form an area buffer.

Utilizing firing operations to burn flammable vegetation and other material before the wildfire reaches the Giant Forest is one of many ways firefighters can use their adversaries to stop, slow down, or redirect the spread of fires.

This strategy comes with significant dangers if conditions alter. However, it is frequently employed to safeguard communities, homes, or other valuable resources currently threatened by fires, including the massive grove of around 2,000 sequoias, which provides for one called the General Sherman Tree, the world’s largest in volume.

Prescribed burns performed under ideal weather conditions can assist in replicating the less intense fires of the past. They also eliminate excess fuels when they aren’t at risk of becoming too large. If fire eventually ravages the region, it’s likely to be less intense and with less destruction.

The same principle applies in a wildfire. Fire chiefs attempt to profit from shifting conditions or changing winds to burn a region before the fire reaches it, thereby denying it the fuel it requires to sustain its growth.

General Sherman and other giant conifers were covered in aluminum blankets to them from the scorching heat.

This park is the only one to be the first in the West to utilize prescribed fire more than 50 years ago. It also frequently burns its groves to get rid of the fuels.

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Hi, you might find this article from Modern Campground interesting: Fighting Fire With Fire: Protecting Sequoia Trees! This is the link: https://moderncampground.com/usa/california/fighting-fire-with-fire-protecting-sequoia-trees/