SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) – More firefighting resources were being brought in Thursday to battle two forest fires that have shut down California’s Sequoia National Park and threaten its ancient trees.
A national interagency management team “equipped to handle the largest and highest-complexity emergency situations” was scheduled to take command of the firefighting effort, according to a statement from Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.
The Colony and Paradise fires named for the areas where they started were ignited by lightning strikes last week and on Wednesday covered about 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada.
The Colony Fire as of Wednesday was about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Giant Forest, a grove of about 2,000 sequoias, according to Mark Ruggiero, fire information officer for the two national parks.
Ground crew access to the Colony Fire was limited and the extreme steepness of the Paradise Fire terrain prevented any ground access, requiring extensive aerial water and retardant drops on both fires. The two fires were being managed collectively as the KNP Complex.