Thousands of giant sequoias killed in California wildfires

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lightning-sparked wildfires killed thousands of giant sequoias this year, adding to a staggering two-year death toll that accounts for up to nearly a fifth of Earth's largest trees, officials said Friday.

Fires in Sequoia National Park and the surrounding national forest that also bears the trees' name tore through more than a third of groves in California and torched an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias, which are the largest trees by volume. Fires in the same area last year killed an unprecedented 7,500 to 10,400 of the 75,000 trees that are only native in about 70 groves scattered along the western side of the Sierra Nevada range.

Intense fires that burned hot enough and high enough to kill so many giant sequoias — trees once considered nearly fire-proof — puts an exclamation point on the impact of climate change. The combination of a warming planet that has created hotter droughts and a century of fire suppression that choked forests with thick undergrowth have fueled blazes that have sounded the death knell for trees that date back to ancient civilizations.

“The sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes,” said Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “As spectacular as these trees are we really can't take them for granted. To ensure that they're around for our kids and grandkids and great grandkids, some action is necessary.”

California has seen its largest fires in the past five years, with last year setting a record for most acreage burned. So far, the second-largest amount of land has burned this year.

After last year's Castle and SQF Complex fires took officials by surprise by wiping out so many sequoias,...