{"id":341118,"date":"2021-09-18T11:25:20","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T08:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/us-firefighters-optimistic-over-worlds-biggest-tree\/"},"modified":"2021-09-18T11:25:20","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T08:25:20","slug":"us-firefighters-optimistic-over-worlds-biggest-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/us-firefighters-optimistic-over-worlds-biggest-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"#US firefighters optimistic over world’s biggest tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#US firefighters optimistic over world’s biggest tree<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n A dead tree (L) stands alongside living trees as smoke rises during the KNP Complex fire in the Sequoia National Forest near Red Fir, California on September 17, 2021.
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Firefighters battling to protect the world’s biggest tree from wildfires ravaging the parched United States said Friday they are optimistic it can be saved.<\/p>\n


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Flames are creeping closer to the majestic General<\/a> Sherman and other giant sequoias, as man-made climate change worsens California’s fearsome fire season.<\/p>\n

“We have hundreds of firefighters there giving it their all, giving extra care,” Mark Garrett, communications officer for the region’s fire department, told AFP, of the operation in Sequoia National Park.<\/p>\n

Crews are battling the spreading Paradise and Colony fires, which have so far consumed 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres) of forest since they were sparked by lightning a week ago.<\/p>\n

The blazes are threatening Giant Forest, a grove of around 2,000 sequoias that includes five of the largest trees on the planet\u2014some up to 3,000 years old.<\/p>\n

The biggest of them all, the General Sherman stands 83 meters (275 feet) tall.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, General Sherman was wrapp<\/a>ed in fire-proof blankets\u2014aluminum foil intended to protect its giant trunk from the worst of the flames.<\/p>\n

By Friday, managers felt they had the upper hand, thanks in part to clearing of undergrowth and controlled burns that starve the fire of fuel.<\/p>\n

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\"General
\n General Sherman, the world’s biggest tree, has been wrapped in foil to protect it from flames.
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“I think the most challenging part is the terrain here,” said Garrett.<\/p>\n

But “we haven’t seen explosive fire behavior; it really slowed down and gave us a chance to get ahead of it.”<\/p>\n

Around 600 personnel are involved in the fight.<\/p>\n

“We have folks up in the Giant Forest protecting structures and preparing everything. <\/p>\n

“The fact is that they’ve been prescribed burning for the past 25 or 30 years so it is really prepared.”<\/p>\n

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\n Photographer Stuart Palley (L) takes photographs of giant sequoia trees among smoke filled skies in the “Lost Grove” along Generals Highway north of Red Fir during a media<\/a> tour of the KNP Complex fire in the Sequoia National Park in California on September 17, 2021.
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Millions of acres of California’s forests have burned in this year’s ferocious fire season.<\/p>\n

Scientists say global warming, stoked by the unchecked use of fossil fuels is making the area ever-more vulnerable to bigger and more destructive wildfires.<\/p>\n

The enormous trees of the Giant Forest are a huge tourist draw, with visitors travel<\/a>ing from all over the world to marvel at their imposing height and extraordinary girth.<\/p>\n

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\n The fire-proof cladding that firefighters are using is the same material they deploy to protect vulnerable homes.
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While not the tallest trees\u2014California redwoods can grow to more than 300 feet\u2014the giant sequoias are the largest by volume.<\/p>\n

Smaller fires generally do not harm the sequoias, which are protected by a thick bark and often only have branches 100 feet above the ground.<\/p>\n

But the larger, hotter blazes that are laying waste to the western United States are dangerous to them because they climb higher up the trunks and into the canopy.<\/p>\n\n

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California wildfires threaten famous giant sequoia trees\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n US firefighters optimistic over world’s biggest tree (2021, September 18)
\n retrieved 18 September 2021
\n from https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2021-09-firefighters-optimistic-world-biggest-tree.html<\/p>\n

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\n part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n