In this Sunday, Sept. 12 photo posted by the KNP Complex Fire Incident Command, smoke plumes are coming out of the fire of paradise in Sequoia National Park, California.
Command of complex KNP / AP fire incidents
The fire in paradise went out of control Monday night, crossing Generals Road and the middle fork of the Kaweah River, causing the evacuation of park employees.
All facilities and services in Sequoia National Park, including campsites, visitor centers and park shops, are closed until the fire threat is reduced, the park said.
“Due to forest fire activity in the area, we are closing all roads entering Sequoia National Park for backpacks and daily excursions. All permit holders will receive a full refund.” added an alert to the park website. “As of Sept. 12, backpackers will not be able to get overnight desert permits starting from the Mineral King Valley, Lodgepole or Giant Forest, or Ash Mountain (foothills).”
Other areas of the desert are open, the park said, but are “severely affected” by smoke and dangerous air quality.
Redwoods only grow naturally on the western slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada range. According to a National Park Service report, last year’s fire destroyed between 7,500 and 10,600 mature giant redwoods.
This accounts for approximately 10-14% of the world’s mature redwood population.
While trees rely on fire to open cones and release seeds to reproduce, historically these fires burned naturally at lower temperatures, killing small trees and thinning the forest. But fire suppression efforts have allowed the forest to become denser, which, combined with a drought of many years, has allowed many of these trees to disappear. This has created more fuels that burned more intensely and more intensely than in previous fires.