News Release
NPS-SEKI
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Contact: Mike Theune, Fire Information Officer, 559-565-3703
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. November 28, 2018 – Burning since October 4th in the John Krebs Wilderness of Sequoia National Park, the 1,777 acre lightning-caused Eden Fire is now 90% contained. The onset of winter-like weather and a combination of visual and infrared flights this week have shown the fire’s growth to be very limited.Located in and adjacent to the Eden Creek Grove of giant sequoias, the terrain is steep and rugged with no access via the ground. The fire is working its way through an area that has no modern recorded fire history of significance.
This fire should be seen as a success story for the health and well-being of our public lands. By not taking any direct suppression action on this fire, the parks did not put any on the ground firefighters at risk, created contemporary fire history in an area that has over a century of extreme fuel loading, and greatly reduced costs and risks associated with suppressing all fires, all the time. Compared to the 2018 Horse Creek Fire in the same area, the Eden Fire cost about 1/10th the amount and covered an area 52 times the size.
“Decades of fire exclusion has resulted in drastic changes to most of our forests.” said Tony Caprio, fire ecologist for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “We strongly believe that by managing fire on the landscape under these conditions, we are starting the process of making these areas more resilient to climate change and sustainable for future generations.”
In addition to providing for long-term ecosystem and watershed health, having low, and in some cases moderate, fire intensity in this area provides fire managers options when the time comes to take a more aggressive response. When weather conditions are vastly different, fighting a fire in terrain like the Sierra Nevada, is dangerous and expensive, especially when there is no modern fire history.
Updated forecast from this morning shows that some areas above 7,000 feet will receive more than two feet of snow while lower elevations could see a couple of inches of rain from the storm system that arrived today.
Additionally, the Dennison Fire, located east of the Dillonwood Grove at over 8,000 feet in elevation south of the Eden Fire, and also started by lightning remains at 87 acres and is now 98% contained. It too is burning in a remote area of Sequoia National Park and is showing no threats to life or property.
The parks were supported in these efforts by the Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and the Bureau of Land Management Bakersfield Field Office.
This will be the last update for both the Eden and Dennison Fires unless conditions change significantly. For pictures, videos, and maps of the Eden Fire, please visit the official website: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6248/
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About Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks’ Fire Management Program
For fifty years, our mission has been to use the full range of options and strategies available to manage fire in the parks. This includes protecting park resources, employees, and the public from unwanted fire; building and maintaining fire resilient ecosystems; reducing the threat to local communities from wildfires emanating from the parks or adjacent lands; and recruiting, training, and retaining a professional fire management workforce.
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Last updated: November 28, 2018