Fire Crews Race to Save Ancient Giant Sequoias From 55,000-Acre Blaze

California fire crews are mounting an all-out effort to protect one of the state’s most treasured natural wonders — a grove of giant sequoias now threatened by the 55,000-acre Garnet Fire burning east of Fresno.

The McKinley Grove, home to roughly 165 ancient sequoias — some more than 2,000 years old and towering over 230 feet — lies within the Sierra National Forest. With flames pushing toward the grove Monday, crews surrounded the giants with sprinklers, cleared brush, and even deployed highly trained smokejumpers to climb the trees and extinguish embers.

The sprinkler system, running nonstop for a week, has boosted humidity in the grove and slowed the fire’s advance. Still, embers lodged in branches forced firefighters to pull back at times for safety. Specialized smokejumpers, who typically parachute into remote fire zones, will instead drive into the grove this week to put their climbing skills to work high in the canopy.

Giant sequoias are adapted to fire, but in recent years megafires fueled by climate change and overgrown forests have devastated them. Since 2020, wildfires have killed an estimated 20% of all mature sequoias — up to 14,000 trees once thought nearly indestructible.

The McKinley Grove hasn’t seen fire in nearly a century and is now dangerously dry after years of drought. As crews fight to save these living monuments, officials say even heroic measures may not be enough to guarantee their survival.