In the past weeks, smoke has been engulfing the local mountain communities, but where did this originate from? Sequoia National Park has been experiencing high winds that have been contributing to the spread of the The KNP Complex Fire that is threatening some of California’s biggest trees. The current count of Giant sequoias that have been wiped is 33 (at the writing of this article).
Only found in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, Giant sequoia trees are capable of living for more than 3,000 years and soaring to more than 200 feet high. But 10% to 14% of the world's Giant sequoias were lost in the 2020 Castle Fire alone. A week ago, the famous ancient trees of Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest were protected from the fire because of its history of prescribed burns. Because blazes in and around the park are lapping at the bases of these massive trees, some were also wrapped in fire-resistant material. . The ever-increasing intensity of fires in California has become too much even for the sequoias, which evolved to survive, even thrive, in fires.
The smoke from the fires have been a pain, many people have been experiencing headaches and small sickness from being in the smoke so often. At the time of this writing, one can see the smoke in the distance, a slight chance of rain is expected. Hopefully that will clean out the dense smoke filling the air.