Giant sequoias threatened
(and Coffee Pot Fire is going to get a lot bigger)
Volume 3, Number 4 - Monday, Aug. 19, 2024
Published every Monday and Thursday
Perspective
GIANT SEQUOIA GROVES and people in the community of Three Rivers and outlying areas are potentially threatened by the Coffee Pot Fire. Officials on Sunday night said the fire will get much bigger before it can be contained.
As of 7 a.m. yesterday, California Interagency Incident Management Team 5 and Cal Fire, Tulare Unit, took command of the Coffee Pot Fire. The fire is a full-suppression fire burning on lands managed by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and the Bureau of Land Management. It was started by lightning on Monday, Aug. 3. As reported earlier, “Multiple crews responded to the fire and put a containment line around it. After nearly a week of no activity and being monitored, a burning tree within the perimeter fell and rolled over the containment line, and the fire began to grow.”
During a community meeting held in Three Rivers beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday, Cal Fire Fire Captain Ryan Pack said firefighters are using heavy equipment to open up lines to protect the community.
“This will be the third time in the last five years,” he said of that activity, “so we’re quite familiar with what we’re doing up there.”
Tulare County Fire Chief Charlie Norman also addressed the meeting, and representatives of the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and Tulare County Sheriff’s Office were among the officials present.
Although the goal is full suppression, officials noted that early efforts made it clear to them that they needed to use an indirect strategy. They will monitor the fire and direct resources to create lines in areas they can access.
California Interagency Incident Management Team 5 Operations Section Chief Ernie Villa described fire activity as low to moderate.
“We've seen some single tree torching, maybe groups of trees, but for the most part, the fire is burning pretty much on the ground of the forest, and as it does that, it's kind of cleaning up all the dead and down fuels,” Villa said.
“This ground’s pretty unforgiving,” he said of the terrain. “There's not a lot of access into this ground. As you move more to the east, out towards Homer's nose … we're looking at this ridge line that comes up here out of South Fork, comes up to the top of Salt Creek Ridge. This is where the crews are making access coming out to the main fire's edge.”
Villa said it is about an hour’s walk from the road's end to the main fire’s edge, and the conditions are hazardous.
“We prioritize the operation based on firefighter safety, life, property and then natural resources that are being threatened at that point,” he said.
“Currently, with the giant sequoia groves … we're building plans to do tactical conditions, basically lighting the top of the grove and allowing fire to back through it so the fire doesn't make aggressive runs up to it,” he said.
Referencing the Surprise Grove on a map, he said, the “fire’s backing through it pretty evenly, and it's not doing any damage. We do have a plan to maybe do some aerial ignition out here, just to keep the fire backing that way.”
Villa noted that the 2021 KNP Complex Fire burned on the south end of the area where the Coffee Pot Fire is burning. The KNP Complex Fire killed thousands of mature giant sequoia trees.
During Sunday night’s community meeting, Incident Commander Dustin Mueller announced that the Coffee Pot Fire had grown to 733 acres. WatchDuty this morning reported that the fire was at 869 acres per the National Interagency Fire Center, with zero containment.
SEKI Superintendent Clay Jordan spoke during the community meeting, noting differences between the Coffee Pot Fire and the fires that have burned in recent years.
“Number one, we don't have a fire looming over the community … posing any sort of immediate threat,” he said. “Number two, we don't have the extreme fire conditions that we had in 2020 in 2021.”
Information about the fire is on Inciweb HERE, and you can watch a video of last night’s community meeting HERE.
Wildfire, water & weather update
The Coffee Pot Fire isn’t the only wildfire burning in the Sierra Nevada. WatchDuty shows there have been a number of wildfires in the Sierra Nevada that so far are very small or have increasing containment. As of yesterday morning, Sequoia National Forest reported on the Borel and 2024 SQF Lightning Fires, as follows: Borel Fire: 59,288 acres, 93% contained; Trout Fire, 23,822 acres, 72% contained; Long Fire, 9,204, 98% contained; total personnel, 686.
The weather in Central California has been relatively mild lately, especially in the mountains. The forecast shows things are going to heat up, however. Temperatures in Three Rivers are going to edge into the high 90s by this time next week.
The best Sierra Nevada weather forecasts are at NWS Hanford, HERE, and NWS Sacramento, HERE.
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