Coffee Pot Fire: Destructive, but beneficial?

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – While the Coffee Pot Fire threatens to burn down historic sequoia groves, there may be a glimmer of hope within the flames.

Per the California Interagency Incident Management Team (CIIMT), the Coffee Pot Fire was burning 2,231 acres and was 0% contained as of Thursday afternoon.

The Bureau of Land Management reported on Tuesday that flames reached the groves of giant sequoias, but according to the National Park Service (NPS), this might be a good thing.

NPS says giant sequoias need fire to survive for three crucial reasons .

For one :

As the fire spreads through the forest, it clears the underbrush, creating the bare, mineral soil that sequoias need to germinate.

For two:

Sequoia seeds are hidden away in closed cones, sometimes for upwards of 20 years. When wildfires rush over the land, these cones dry out, pop open, and release seeds.

For three :

Fires that grow intense enough will burn up the tree canopy that shades the forest floor. This allows the small sequoia saplings to receive sunlight and grow.

For these reasons, although destructive, the Coffee Pot Fire may also be beneficial. However, it is only low-intensity fires that produce the conditions needed for giant sequoias to grow; hotter and more intense wildfires can be catastrophic to the trees.

CIIMT says the overall fire effect in the impacted sequoia groves has been minimal so far with low-intensity fire on the ground. The team adds that they also currently have crews dedicated to prepping the groves along the northern perimeter ahead of the fire.

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