NewsCovering the Nation

Actions

Crews watching weather as wildfire burns near sequoias

Western Wildfires
Posted at 6:58 AM, Sep 18, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-18 06:58:54-04

THREE RIVERS, Calif. — Crews are watching the weather this weekend as they battle a California wildfire that has burned into groves of gigantic sequoia trees.

The National Weather Service has issued a weather watch for dry, windy conditions in the Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada, where the Colony Fire is burning about a mile from Giant Forest, a grove of 2,000 giant sequoias.

Firefighters have wrapped the base of the General Sherman Tree — the world's largest tree — in fire-resistant aluminum.

Fires in the area have burned into at least four other groves of sequoias but firefighters haven't been able to determine how much damage was done.