Giant Sequoia Still Smoldering from Last Summer’s California Wildfires

A giant sequoia tree in California is still smoldering from a wildfire that began in August 2020, according to researchers.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday:

A giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park that caught fire last summer during a wildfire was recently found to be smoldering nine months later.

The burning tree, located in the Board Camp Grove in the southwestern part of the park, endured rain and possibly snow over the winter, though not as much as normal because of the state’s dry conditions. The grove is located in a less blustery, lower-elevation area of the park, which boasts California’s highest peak, Mount Whitney. But the fire’s endurance through the wet season is still remarkable.

A team of fire researchers discovered the sequoia giving off smoke this month, which they said was likely the remnants of the Castle Fire that was ignited by lightening in August. The Castle Fire merged with the Shotgun Fire and was managed as the SQF Complex fires. They burned 174,178 acres.

State authorities describe the Castle Fire as “100% contained,” and indicate that it burned from August into December. The smoky sequoia is not considered a risk to re-ignite the wildfire, but it is seen as a troubling sign of continued dry conditions.

Much of the state is suffering drought conditions, though Gov. Gavin Newsom has not yet officially declared a drought.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new e-book, We Told You So!: The First 100 Days of Joe Biden’s Radical Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Photo: file