California's towering sequoias were once thought to be impervious to fire, but as wildfires increase a significant number of trees could be lost.
Wildfires across the state are growing in size and heat levels, exposing sequoias to fire conditions the ancient trees have never experienced before.
The KNP Complex Fire has been threatening Sequoia National Park since it ignited on Sept. 10.
"By my count I’ve seen 29 trees that are completely incinerated," Garrett Dickman, a botanist at Yosemite National Park told KCBS Radio's Jeff Bell. "It’s still an active incident, still lots of fire on the ground."
California wildfires are growing in ferocity each year partially due to the management of forests in the last century.
"The trees are 2,000 to 3,000 years old, they’ve never experienced fires like the fires they are experiencing now," he explained. "It has a lot to do with the past 100 years, how much fuel is on the ground, how dry that fuel is and how easy it is to burn."
The "fuel" is massive and highly flammable. "There are 125 tons of fuel per acre," Dickman said. That’s like having a 737 made of wood parked on every acre of ground. That’s what these trees are experiencing."
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