The Washburn Fire was a threat to more than 500 mature sequoias in the Yosemite National Park’s Mariposa Grove and the nearby community of Wawona, which has been evacuated
A heat wave was developing in California on Monday but winds were light as firefighters battled a wildfire that poses a threat to a grove of giant sequoias and a small community in Yosemite National Park.
The area in the southern portion of Yosemite was closed to visitors but the rest of the national park remained open. “Fortunately, the Mariposa Grove has a long history of prescribed burning and studies have shown that these efforts reduce the impacts of high-severity unwanted fire,” a National Park Service statement said.
Lightning-sparked wildfires over the past two years have killed up to a fifth of the estimated 75,000 large sequoias, which are the biggest trees by volume and a major draw for tourists. The downed trees, along with massive numbers of pines killed by bark beetles, provided ample fuel for the flames.
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