KNP Complex Fire

The 2021 KNP Complex Fire was a large wildfire that burned primarily in Sequoia National Park and Sequoia National Forest in the U.S. state of California's Tulare County.[1] After lightning strikes ignited two separate fires in the southern Sierra Nevada on September 9, the fires merged after several days, and the combined blaze burned 88,307 acres (35,737 hectares) over the course of more than a month. Snow and rain from multiple atmospheric rivers quieted the fire in late October, and it was finally declared contained in mid-December, at a cost of $170 million. The KNP Complex Fire did not cause destruction as widespread as that wrought by other fires during the 2021 California wildfire season, such as the Dixie and Caldor fires in Northern California. It burned in rugged, remote terrain, though Sierra communities such as Three Rivers, Wilsonia, and Cedar Grove were forced to evacuate, and the fire forced the closure of much of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for long periods while damaging park resources such as roads, trails, and cabins.

KNP Complex Fire
Refer to caption
Firefighters monitor a low-intensity burnout operation in a giant sequoia grove
LocationSequoia National Park, Tulare County, California, United States
Coordinates36.567°N 118.811°W / 36.567; -118.811
Statistics
Cost
  • $170 million
  • (cost of suppression)
Date(s)
  • September 9 –
  • December 16, 2021
Burned area
  • 88,307 acres or
  • 35,737 hectares
  • 138 square miles
CauseLightning
Buildings destroyed4
Non-fatal injuries5+
Map
The irregular footprint of the KNP Complex Fire stretches from northwest to southeast within the boundaries of the national park
The majority of the KNP Complex Fire lay within the footprint of Sequoia National Park
A map of California, showing the fire's location marked in the central part of the state with a flame icon
A map of California, showing the fire's location marked in the central part of the state with a flame icon
The fire burned in Tulare County, on the Sierra Nevada's western slope

The KNP Complex Fire also heavily impacted the endangered giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) population, which grows in less than a hundred natural groves scattered up and down the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The National Park Service estimates that the KNP Complex Fire resulted in the death of between 1,300 and 2,400 large giant sequoias, a significant part of the growing toll that high-severity wildfires have taken on the species in the 21st century. The Windy Fire, ignited by the same dry thunderstorms that sparked the KNP Complex's fires, burned an additional 97,528 acres (39,468 ha) and killed many hundreds more large giant sequoias in areas of Sequoia National Forest to the south of the Complex. The two simultaneous fires are estimated to have killed as much as 3–5% of the total population of large giant sequoias.

Background factors

The summer and fall of 2021 marked an exceptional fire season for the western United States and for California in particular, which saw nearly 2,600,000 acres (1,100,000 ha) burn: the second largest area on record after 2020. In the northern Sierra Nevada, the enormous Dixie Fire became the largest single blaze in California history.[2] The severe burning conditions pushed resources to the limit. The national preparedness level, representing the mobilization of wildland firefighting crews, hit the maximum level of 5 on July 14 and remained there until September 20. That 68-day period was the longest on record.[3]: 6  Officials began taking drastic measures to try and limit new ignitions: between August 31 and September 15, the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region closed all of California's national forests to public use because of fire conditions.[4][5]

Climate change and drought
Further information: Megadrought in California and Climate change in California

In the past several decades, average temperatures in the Sierra have increased measurably, even as precipitation (rain or snow) has not. This trend, driven by climate change, has helped produce hotter and more severe droughts such as the one California endured between 2012 and 2016. Acute stress from that drought killed many trees in the Sierra Nevada, particularly at middling elevations.[6]

Two line graphs: one shows average temperatures increasing in Sequoia National Park over 79 years, one shows rainfall remaining the same
Climatic trends from 1940–2019 in Sequoia National Park show rising temperatures (top), without increased precipitation (bottom)

The lack of water also crippled trees' abilities to resist the predations of bark beetles, which resulted in "greatly elevated mortality" for many major tree species in Sequoia National Park, including the ponderosa pine, the sugar pine, the incense-cedar, and the white fir. Overall, annual tree mortality rates nearly doubled in the park just between 1983 and 2004.[6] A park representative estimated in 2021 that Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks held over a million trees killed by beetles that were helping drive the KNP Complex Fire.[7]

Exclusion of fire
Further information: History of wildfire suppression in the United States and Native American use of fire in ecosystems

The drought and beetle-caused tree mortality added to a surfeit of fuels that had already built up in Sierra Nevada forests since European-American settlement of the area. Prior to their arrival, frequent fires of low to moderate severity—caused by lightning or set by indigenous inhabitants—left most sequoias unharmed and helped with forest regeneration. After European-American settlement, such fires were prohibited and routinely extinguished. This practice created elevated fuel loads in forests, including giant sequoia groves, and not until the 1960s was fire reintroduced to some groves.[8][9] While approximately 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) used to burn naturally and annually in Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks, as of 2022 the parks burned only around 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) annually using prescribed burns.[10] Most of the eventual KNP Complex Fire area had no recent fire history.[11]: 24 

Extreme burning conditions

Then, in the months preceding the fire, California saw its second-driest water year (the period between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021) ever, exceeded only by that of 1923–1924.[12] The meteorological summer of 2021 (June through August) was also California's hottest ever recorded. Fresno, though thousands of feet below Sequoia National Park on the San Joaquin Valley floor, notched 64 days on which the temperature reached 100 °F (38 °C) or higher.[13] While temperatures in the vicinity of the fire were not extreme, the hot and dry summer helped fuel moistures reach critically low levels.[11]: 24 

Fire progression
Two plumes of smoke rise on either side of a deep, forested canyon in a panoramic shot
The Paradise (left) and Colony (right) fires burn on both sides of the Kaweah River drainage on September 13 in this westward-looking panorama

On the night of September 9, a procession of dry thunderstorms rolled across California. More than 1,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were recorded across the state by the following morning, and the associated rainfall totals were too low across much of the state to quench the small fires left in their wake.[14] More than 200 lightning strikes occurred in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.[15] On September 10, three lightning-ignited fires were discovered in Sequoia National Park. One of them, the Cabin Fire was found near Dorst Creek and fully contained at only 1.25 acres (0.51 ha).

The other two fires were not so easily subdued: the 4-acre (1.6 ha) Colony Fire was discovered near Colony Peak, burning in a mixed conifer forest west of the Giant Forest and north of the Kaweah River, and the 0.25-acre (0.10 ha) Paradise Fire was found west of Paradise Creek, south of the Kaweah River and burning in chaparral in rugged terrain.[11]: 290–292  Campgrounds and park roads in proximity to the fires were closed, and personnel quickly set to work with a combination of handcrews on the ground and water and fire retardant drops from the air. However, noting the combination of difficult terrain and weather conducive to fire spread, park officials warned that "the fires have spread potential and could affect operations in the coming days or weeks."[16] Despite the efforts of the crews, the Colony and Paradise fires grew overnight to 72 acres (29 ha) and 32 acres (13 ha) respectively, with no containment.[17] On September 11, the two fires, though still separate, were given the single name of 'KNP Complex'.[15]

Two firefighters wrap a brown wooden sign with white lettering in sheets of silver foil
Firefighters wrap Sequoia National Park's historic entrance sign with protective foil

Ground crews on the Colony Fire were beleaguered by six-foot (one-point-eight-metre) flames and a preponderance of hazardous old snags around the fire. Meanwhile, the Paradise Fire's challenging location mid-slope with no safety zones or easy access caused officials to resort to an aircraft-only strategy, hoping to use water and fire retardant drops to keep the fire north of Paradise Ridge and south of the Kaweah River.[11]: 23–24  By September 13, the burned area had passed 200 acres (81 ha) and 800 acres (320 ha) for the Colony and Paradise fires. Evacuations were ordered for the Mineral King area, and warnings instituted for Three Rivers. The response was still hampered by the rough terrain, as officials noted that ground access to the Paradise Fire had proved "impossible" thus far. At this stage of the fire, only 130 personnel were engaged on the incident.[18]

That night, the Paradise Fire spread downslope to the north, crossing the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River and the Generals Highway and forcing park employees at the Ash Mountain Headquarters Complex and in employee housing nearby to evacuate.[19] Both fires continued to grow considerably over the course of the following day (September 14), taking the Paradise Fire's total burned acreage to more than 5,900 acres (2,400 ha) and the Colony Fire's total to more than 1,100 acres (450 ha). As a result of the fire's encroachment, Sequoia National Park was closed to the public.[20]

Colony and Paradise fires merge

On September 15 and 16, both fires continued to grow moderately and on every flank. With the arrival of a Type 1 incident management team, the number of personnel on the incident grew to more than 400, even as the combined size of the two fires reached more than 11,000 acres (4,500 ha).[21][22] Then, on September 17, the Colony and Paradise fires finally met and merged in the drainage of the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. At the same time, the smoke that had stifled the fire's northeastern portion cleared, and the resulting ventilation allowed the fire to grow. The northern portion of the now-combined blaze pushed north, up and out of the Marble Fork into the Halstead Creek drainage in a 6,500-acre (2,600 ha) "extreme head fire run" that burned the entirety of the Suwanee Grove, much of it at moderate to high severity.[23][11]: 292–294  The run also took the fire into the Giant Forest grove for the first time, in the vicinity of the Four Guardsmen trees,[23] but firefighters had cleared fuels and applied a protective foil wrap usually used on structures to the trees' bases, and all four survived.[24] The total size of the wildfire reached 17,857 acres (7,226 ha) by September 18.[23]

Six firefighters clad in yellow gear place sheets of silver foil around the tree's base, slightly above the height of their heads.
Firefighters and park personnel wrap General Sherman in fire shelter material to help protect it from fire burning into old cavities or fire scars

The fire slowly grew to 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) by September 21.[25] The fire's growth to the north forced Kings Canyon National Park to close, leaving only the wilderness portions of the parks east of the Pacific Crest Trail in the High Sierra open,[15] and crews prepared for the fire's potential arrival in the Lost and Muir sequoia groves. As the fire continued to move through the Giant Forest, it reduced in intensity as it met areas that had already been treated with prescribed fire. Meanwhile, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) personnel constructed control lines along Paradise Ridge to help check the fire's growth on its southern end.[25]

Flames lap at several snags of trees above a steep drop-off, with Moro Rock's granite dome partially shrouded in blue smoke in the background
The KNP Complex Fire burns near the Giant Forest, with Moro Rock visible in the background.

In late September, a high-pressure system settled in place over the area, keeping a lid on the fire: higher humidity levels and lower temperatures, combined with a thick smoke inversion, stifled fire behavior somewhat even as the lack of visibility prevented aircraft from flying. Despite this, on September 24 fire activity ticked up as flames moved down from the conifer forests into the grass and oak woodlands closer to the visitors center in the foothills, and leapt past firefighters and their control lines on Paradise Ridge. Burning operations helped catch the fire in the Mineral King Road and Ash Mountain areas. A giant sequoia killed by the fire fell across the Generals Highway, blocking travel between the northern and southern portions of the fire until equipment could be mustered to cut through it.[7]

During the last week of September the fire continued to grow by about several thousand acres per day. As its footprint increased, mandatory evacuation orders were issued on September 30 for Eshom and Hartland Camp in Tulare County. These orders were expanded on October 1 to include Grant Grove Village, Wilsonia, and Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon National Park, and Big Meadows, Weston Meadows, and Quail Flat areas in Giant Sequoia National Monument.[26] Approximately 158 homes were threatened between those in Sequoia National Park, in the Lodgepole area, and in the communities of Three Rivers and Hartland.[27] On September 30, the fire crossed the North Fork of the Kaweah River,[28] and entered the lower portion of the Pierce Creek drainage to the north. On October 1, the fire pushed up through Pierce Creek, over the lower parts of the Redwood Mountain ridge, and into Redwood Canyon,[11]: 296  taking the total burned area to more than 50,000 acres (20,000 ha).[28]

Fire impacts Redwood Canyon and Redwood Mountain Grove

For the next two days the fire backed down into Redwood Canyon, burning through Big Springs Grove and making occasional runs up towards Big Baldy (a high granite ridge to the east).[11]: 296  Redwood Mountain Grove was singled out for concern—park officials knew that its southern section lay on a steep slope and was littered with excess fuel. Firefighters began burnout operations in the grove on October 1. Officials hashed out plans to apply an experimental polyacrylamide fire retardant gel to the canopies of the giant sequoias, and some was dropped on trees in Muir Grove.[29] But smoky conditions kept aircraft grounded in the Redwood Mountain Grove area, preventing gel drops there, and before long the wildfire outpaced the firefighters' burnout operations.[30]

By October 3, the fire's footprint spanned over 60,000 acres (24,000 ha).[31] A spot fire across Mineral King Road provoked evacuation orders for Sierra King Drive, Hammond, and Oak Grove.[32] That evening, part of the fire still burning near Pierce Meadow surged up the western side of Redwood Mountain. By morning it had merged with a fire front burning up through Redwood Canyon, and the combined head of the fire burned the central portion of the canyon, scorching the southern part of Redwood Mountain Grove at high severity.[11]: 296  The fire burned hot in the canyon, putting up a 40,000-foot (12,000 m) convective pyrocumulus cloud visible from the far side of the Sierra Nevada, and generating winds so strong that they ripped bark and foliage from the sequoia trees and hurled them into the air. In some areas the fire may have climbed into the canopies of the sequoias and become a crown fire.[30] On October 4, the fire's run took it across Generals Highway near Stony Creek.[33] The fire eventually subsided upon reaching Big Baldy and parts of the grove that had previously been treated with prescribed fire.[11]: 296  The Redwood Canyon area growth took the fire's total burned area to just shy of 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) by October 5.[33]

Favorable weather arrives

On October 6, the fire crossed the Generals Highway south of Grant Grove, but was caught by fire crews digging lines by hand.[34] Crews used firing operations to secure that part of the perimeter the following night.[35] On October 7, a second Type 1 incident management team arrived and the fire was divided between the two teams into a north zone and a south zone.[34]

On October 8, storms brought a wetting rain to the whole of the fire. Some areas received as much as three-tenths of an inch (7.6 mm) of precipitation.[36] During this period the total number of personnel assigned to the fire peaked at over 2,000 and remained around that level for most of the second week of October.[37] Favorable weather, particularly on the fire's north end, allowed those crews to make progress and achieve 20% containment by October 10, a figure which continued to climb.[38] On the morning of October 21, the fire's total burned area was reported as 88,307 acres (35,737 ha) with 60% containment.[39] While heat sources remained within the perimeter and personnel would continue working the incident for another month and a half, this marked the end of the fire's forward progression. On October 22, Governor of California Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Tulare County and multiple other counties affected by the season's fires, allowing residents to access resources through the California Disaster Assistance Act.[40]

On October 24, a significant atmospheric river made landfall in Northern California, delivering several inches of rain across much of the state. Though it weakened as it slid southward,[41] 2–3 inches (51–76 mm) of rain fell on all parts of the fire,[42] and a flash flood watch was issued for the area.[43] Christy Brigham, chief of resource management and science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, declared it a season-ending event.[41] Indeed, by late October there was minimal heat to be found within the fire perimeter. Much of the work from then on was spent repairing the damage from fire suppression activities and stabilizing the burned areas.[11]: 26  On November 1, incident control was turned back over to the Forest Service and National Park Service from the interagency Type 2 Incident Management Team 12.[44] The KNP Complex Fire was declared completely contained on the afternoon of December 16, with no further growth expected outside of the existing perimeter.[45] The total cost of fighting the fire came to $170 million.[3]: 9 

Giant sequoia impacts
Two helmeted people walk along a slope filled with tall, charred, black trees, including a giant sequoia
Two natural resource specialists walk through an area of Redwood Mountain Grove after the fire

Giant sequoias are typically resistant to wildfires, possessing thick bark and an elevated canopy that protects them from low-intensity fire and even helps them reproduce.[46] Giant sequoia groves witnessed wildfires of low or moderate severity frequently: with a historic fire return interval of approximately 15 years, long-lived giant sequoias might see dozens of wildfires throughout their lifetimes. But as with the rest of the Sierra Nevada's forests, this ceased with European-American settlement. Of the ~10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of giant sequoia groves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks, only 4,610 acres (1,870 ha) had seen prescribed or managed fire in the 20 years prior to the KNP Complex Fire. Much of that treated acreage lay in the Giant Forest grove.[11]: 78–80  

Because of the lack of milder wildfires—leading to fuel build-up—and the intensification of other factors (such as climate change and bark beetles) mentioned above, modern Californian wildfires burn with an increased proportion of moderate to high severity fire effects and such fires have become a "significant threat to the persistence of large sequoias", according to the Park Service's assessment.[8] The KNP Complex Fire bore this threat out; during its lifetime it reached 16 separate giant sequoia groves, and affected some of them severely. The Park Service assessment reported: "Much of the fire’s growth occurred due to backing and flanking, with short uphill runs. However, in some areas terrain, fuels, and winds aligned to drive high intensity crown runs ranging from tens to hundreds of acres."[11]: 24  Thus, while many groves received low-intensity flanking or backing fire producing effects that varied from "unburned" to "low" severity, several sustained hits from moderate or high severity runs that killed many mature giant sequoias. Studies of wildfire in old-growth sequoia groves between 2015 and 2017 showed an average mortality rate of 84% in high severity fire areas, and anecdotal evidence has shown that in multiple fires these areas fail to regenerate.[11]: 79–80 

Following the fire's impingement on Castle Creek Grove and Redwood Mountain Grove, park officials wrote on Facebook on October 6 that they suspected the fire had killed trees in those groves, possibly hundreds of them.[47] Prior to the fire, Redwood Mountain Grove had been home to 5,509 large giant sequoias, and Castle Creek Grove home to another 419.[48] However, officials further noted that protecting other threatened groves was the current priority and continued fire hazards precluded a complete assessment until later.[47]

Mortality

On November 19, 2021, the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team assigned to the KNP Complex Fire released their report, which discussed a variety of fire impacts, post-fire hazards, and potential actions for response. Within the report, an analysis conducted by Nature Conservancy and National Park Service scientists used a combination of fire severity data, satellite imagery, aerial reconnaissance, and limited ground assessments to estimate possible large giant sequoia mortality from the KNP Complex Fire.[49] In total, the National Park Service report estimated that the KNP Complex Fire killed between 1,330 and 2,380 large sequoias, defined as those over four feet (1.2 metres) in diameter. That figure includes both the sequoias killed outright and those expected to die in the three to five years following the fire. When combined with the estimated large sequoia mortality of 931-1,257 trees from the Windy Fire, the 2021 California wildfire season saw the potential loss of 3-5% of the large sequoia population.[8] The National Park Service's assessment highlighted an "alarming trend" given the previous large sequoia mortality from the Castle Fire portion of the 2020 SQF Complex Fire,[8] which killed an estimated 10-14% of large sequoias (or between 7,500 and 10,600 individual trees).[50] The mortality assessments suggest that in 2020 and 2021, 13-19% of the entire large sequoia population was lost in just three large wildfires.[8] Prior to 2020, the total number of large sequoias within the groves of the Sierra Nevada was estimated at 75,580;[50] this number may, after the fires, have fallen as low as 60,000.[30]

Response

On September 23, 2021, Governor Newsom used Sequoia National Park as the backdrop for his gubernatorial signature of a $15 billion climate change legislation package that included $1.5 billion for wildfire response and forest resilience, alluding to the nearby threatened giant sequoias in his remarks on the bill.[51]

In response to the growing wildfire threat, in June 2022 the Save Our Sequoias Act was introduced by Democratic member Scott Peters and Republican member Kevin McCarthy (whose district includes the majority of giant sequoia groves) in the House of Representatives. The bill sought to provide $350 million over the course of a decade to codify the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition (an existing partnership between federal, state, tribal and local land managers), create a reforestation plan for groves destroyed by wildfires, and streamline the environmental review process for thinning and removing vegetation from other groves. Legislators working to draft the bill visited some of the worst-hit groves from the KNP Complex Fire in Sequoia National Park in May, prior to its introduction.[52] Despite having 75 co-sponsors in the House, the bill was opposed by many environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Pacific Crest Trail Association, on the grounds that language in it removed too many guardrails on potentially harmful activities like logging in sequoia groves, and that it minimized community involvement.[53][54][55] An amended version of the legislation was introduced in the Senate in September 2022 by both California senators (Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla). However, the act was not passed in either chamber before the end of the 2021–2022 Congress.[56][57]

In July 2022, the Forest Service announced that it would immediately begin undertaking "emergency fuels reduction treatments to provide for the long term survival of giant sequoia groves against immediate wildfire threats" by removing vegetation and duff on the surface, thinning areas of the forest, and implementing prescribed burns. The announcement stated that the work would encompass 13,377 acres (5,413 ha) in and around 12 giant sequoia groves in Sequoia and Sierra National Forests, with the intent to complete the work by 2023 at a cost of $15 million in funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and a further $6 million then still unappropriated.[58][59] In October 2022, the National Park Service separately announced its own emergency actions to protect 11 at-risk and remote giant sequoia groves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks by manually thinning vegetation around the trees, burning piles of potential fuels, and using prescribed fire in the thinned areas. Further actions mentioned included the potential replanting of seedlings in six sequoia groves that burned at high severity during the SQF and KNP Complex fires.[60] The Park Service began seeking public feedback on proposed sequoia seedling replanting in several groves in February of 2023.[61]

List of groves impacted

Below is a summary of all the groves that were impacted by the KNP Complex, the dates they witnessed active fire, the acreage and percentage of each grove that burned at high severity, and a corresponding narrative. All information is taken from the National Park Service's reports on giant sequoia mortality following the 2021 fire season. The grove with the most acreage burned at high severity was Redwood Mountain Grove, followed by Atwell and Suwanee Groves.[11]: 101 

List of natural giant sequoia groves that burned in the KNP Complex Fire[8][11]: 294–297 
Name Date(s) impacted Acreage burned at high severity % grove burned at high severity Comments
Oriole Lake Grove Sep 16 – Sep 26 0.4 acres (0 ha) 0% The fire slowly backed and flanked southeast into Oriole Lake Grove from Paradise Mountain ridge to the southeast, taking 10 days to move into higher elevations of the grove.
Suwanee Grove Sep 17 17.5 acres (7 ha) 26% The entirety of Suwanee Grove burned in a single "extreme head fire run" when the northern portion of the complex (formerly the Colony Fire) swept up the Marble Fork Kaweah River drainage. Most of the grove burned at moderate-to-high severity.
Giant Forest Sep 17 – Oct 18 3.7 acres (1 ha) 0% The fire entered western portions of the Giant Forest grove on September 17, and crossed the Generals Highway the following day. As the fire flanked through the grove, firefighter hotshot crews conducted low-intensity burnout operations to prevent any high-severity fire from entering the grove. These operations continued through late October. The bases of two of the Four Guardsmen trees were charred, but no other impacts to "trees of special interest" were reported.
Squirrel Creek Grove Sep 18 0 acres (0 ha) 0% The fire backed into this very small grove near the Oriole Lake Crossing.
Douglass Grove Sep 22 – Sep 23 0 acres (0 ha) 0% This very small grove burned in a head fire.
Redwood Creek Grove Sep 22 – Oct 2 1.6 acres (1 ha) 3% The fire backed through this grove from Conifer Ridge.
New Oriole Lake Grove Sep 24 – Sep 25 3.1 acres (1 ha) 21% The fire moved up into New Oriole Lake Grove from the Oriole Lake area, largely in a single push.
Skagway Grove Sep 24 – Sep 29 1.3 acres (1 ha) 2% The fire backed down through Skagway Grove from Pine Ridge.
Muir Grove Sep 25 – Oct 5 6.8 acres (3 ha) 3% After firefighters conducted burnout operations in Muir Grove on September 25, the KNP Complex Fire entered the grove burning up-slope on September 30 and October 1. A special fire retardant gel was applied aerially to trees on the grove's borders.
Pine Ridge Grove Sep 26 – Sep 30 0 acres (0 ha) 0% Fire backing down from Pine Ridge moved through the grove, largely at low severity, but with some areas of moderate severity.
Castle Creek Grove Sep 26 – Oct 2 2.4 acres (1 ha) 1% The fire flanked east through portions of the grove between September 26 and 29. On September 30, the fire advanced to the east below the grove and burned pockets of sequoias on the grove's lower-elevation edges, before a more sustained push upslope through the grove (with an associated convective column) on October 1.
Atwell Grove Sep 30 – Oct 18 18.9 acres (8 ha) 2% The fire first entered Atwell Grove from the west on September 30, which was followed by a more intense push from the west, originating in the Redwood Creek area, on October 1. After continuing to flank through the grove, the fire made a large high-severity upslope run into the center of the grove on October 5. Further minor spread occurred, with one final large run on October 18.
Big Springs Grove Oct 2 – Oct 3 0 acres (0 ha) 0% The KNP Complex Fire moved through the entirety of this very small grove over two days.
Redwood Mountain Grove Oct 4 – Oct 9 560.6 acres (227 ha) 21% One finger of the fire ran across and down from Redwood Mountain ridge into Redwood Canyon, merging with another finger of the fire north of Big Springs Grove. The combined run burned lower portions of the grove at high severity. The fire then ran to the north, crossing the Generals Highway, and then backed westwards, through the remaining parts of the grove.
Lost Grove Oct 4 – Oct 5 0 acres (0 ha) 0% A low-intensity burnout operation was conducted in the grove on October 4, and a head fire run the following day barely missed the grove.
East Fork Grove Oct 8 – Oct 18 0 acres (0 ha) 0% A small portion of the grove on the north side of the East Fork Kaweah River burned during three days (October 8, 9, and 18).

Other impacts

Casualties

On October 7, a falling tree struck four personnel (one affiliated with Cal Fire and three with the California Conservation Corps). All four were transported via helicopter to nearby hospitals with serious injuries, but were listed as stable by that night and were able to be released from the hospital the following morning.[62] On October 11, another firefighter was struck by a falling rock while working in Atwell Grove and was hospitalized.[63][64]

Damage

The fire destroyed four structures and damaged one, according to Cal Fire statistics.[65]: 12  These included a number of historic structures in Sequoia National Park. The Redwood Mountain Ranger Station (built in 1940) burned to the ground, leaving only the masonry foundation and chimney, though the ranger station's associated equipment storage garage survived. The Moro Rock Comfort Station (built in 1934) also burned down to its concrete foundation and Barton's Log/Crose's Cabin, a downed hollow sequoia log converted into a cabin in the 1920s, was completely consumed by the fire.[11]: 178–184  Redwood Canyon Research Cabin and a private cabin at Oriole Lake were also destroyed.[11]: 24  The fire also destroyed radio transmission towers and other hardware on Eshom Point,[66] as well as critical park communications equipment on Milk Ranch Peak.[11]: 12  A 12 kV electrical distribution line belonging to Southern California Edison also suffered damage.[11]: 24 

No campgrounds, picnic areas, or administrative buildings in either park were directly impacted by the fire,[11]: 61, 135  but other park infrastructure was affected. 62.3 miles (100 km) of trails lay within the fire's perimeter, all suffering varying degrees of damage. Sequoia National Park held 44.2 miles (71 km) of those, and Kings Canyon National Park the remaining 18.1 miles (29 km). 9 miles (14 km), representing 20% of the Sequoia burned trails, were within moderate or high burn severity areas. The same figure for Kings Canyon was 7.4 miles (12 km), representing 40% of their burned trails. An additional 6.1 miles (10 km) of trails were used as containment lines along the fire's perimeter, and did not wholly burn.[11]: 149–153  Other impacts included damage to signage throughout the park, including road reflectors, speed limit signs, and posts,[11]: 161–168  and the presence of nearly 20,000 new and potentially hazardous burned trees just along roads in the parks.[11]: 59–72  Fire-weakened hillsides caused washouts and damaged culverts along the Generals Highway following the arrival of strong winter storms in early 2023.[67]

Closures

The Giant Forest, which closed in mid-September and reopened on a limited basis in December 2021, was fully reopened on March 11, 2022.[68] The stretch of the Generals Highway between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park was reopened on March 18, 2022.[69]

Habitat impacts

In addition to the aforementioned giant sequoia mortality, the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team evaluated a host of other environmental impacts from the fire. The KNP Complex Fire impacted critical habitat for the Pacific fisher, a small carnivorous mammal whose southern Sierra Nevada population is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Loss and fragmentation of habitat due to high-severity wildfire is one of the primary reasons for the fisher's listing decision.[11]: 210–213  More than 27,000 acres (10,927 ha) of critical fisher habitat burned in the fire, 58% of it at moderate to high severities. More than 60,000 acres (24,281 ha) of spotted owl habitat (much of it overlapping with fisher habitat) also burned, 46% of it at moderate to high severities.[11]: 216–219 

Soil burn severity

The BAER team also evaluated soil burn severity using satellite imagery and field observations for calibration. A qualitative metric based on the amount of remaining surface material, soil stability, and soil hydrophobicity, soil burn severity influences post-fire runoff and debris flow issues. The KNP Complex Fire's overall footprint was calculated to contain 12.4% unburned, 48.8% low, 32.3% moderate, and 6.5% high soil burn severity.[11]: 30  Mudslides in the fire scar caused road closures on the Generals Highway in the fall of 2022.[70]

Air quality impacts
A satellite picture of California's lower half shows thick brown smoke covering the lower Central Valley and much of Southern California
The KNP Complex and Windy fires inundated Southern California with smoke on September 24, 2021, as seen by NOAA's GOES-17 satellite

The KNP Complex Fire and the Windy Fire's smoke output created hazardous air quality conditions in the San Joaquin Valley, including the city of Fresno, between late September and early October.[71][72][73] On September 27, the air quality index (AQI) in Three Rivers near the KNP Complex Fire soared to 350 (the second-highest reading in the country that day after Kernville, which was inundated by smoke from the Windy Fire) and the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a special air quality advisory for parts of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains.[74] When winds pushed smoke further south into the Los Angeles basin, many people called 911, and firefighters responded to multiple reports of drift smoke in the Angeles National Forest as skies turned hazy shades of brown and orange.[75]

Fire growth and containment

The table below shows how the fire grew in size and in containment during September and October of 2021. Acreage reflects, where possible, the figure reported in the daily morning update following overnight aerial infrared mapping of the fire. Acreage increases may be due to firing operations as well as natural fire growth. The graph runs from September 10, the day the fires were discovered, until October 21, the last day where fire growth was reported (though the fire was not declared completely contained until nearly two months later).

Fire containment status
Gray: contained; Red: active; %: percent contained
Date Area burned[lower-alpha 1] Personnel Containment
Sep 10 4.25 acres (2 ha)[11] ...
0%
Sep 11 104 acres (42 ha)[17] ...
0%
Sep 12 350 acres (142 ha)[76] ...
0%
Sep 13 1,037 acres (420 ha)[18] 130 personnel
0%
Sep 14 3,024 acres (1,224 ha)[19] ...
0%
Sep 15 7,039 acres (2,849 ha)[20] ...
0%
Sep 16 9,365 acres (3,790 ha)[21] 482 personnel
0%
Sep 17 11,365 acres (4,599 ha)[22] 416 personnel
0%
Sep 18 17,857 acres (7,226 ha)[23] 416 personnel
0%
Sep 19 21,777 acres (8,813 ha)[24] 614 personnel
0%
Sep 20 23,743 acres (9,608 ha)[77] 810 personnel
0%
Sep 21 25,147 acres (10,177 ha)[25] 965 personnel
0%
Sep 22 28,328 acres (11,464 ha)[78] 1,412 personnel
0%
Sep 23 33,046 acres (13,373 ha)[79] 1,518 personnel
0%
Sep 24 36,850 acres (14,913 ha)[80] 1,620 personnel
0%
Sep 25 42,048 acres (17,016 ha)[81] 1,729 personnel
0%
Sep 26 44,828 acres (18,141 ha)[82] 1,780 personnel
8%
Sep 27 46,976 acres (19,011 ha)[83] 1,804 personnel
8%
Sep 28 48,344 acres (19,564 ha)[84] 1,822 personnel
8%
Sep 29 48,872 acres (19,778 ha)[85] 1,802 personnel
11%
Sep 30 49,349 acres (19,971 ha)[86] 1,949 personnel
11%
Oct 1 51,596 acres (20,880 ha)[28] 1,494 personnel
20%
Oct 2 58,283 acres (23,586 ha)[87] 1,345 personnel
20%
Oct 3 62,761 acres (25,398 ha)[31] 1,357 personnel
20%
Oct 4 67,708 acres (27,400 ha)[32] 1,357 personnel
11%
Oct 5 79,382 acres (32,125 ha)[33] 1,566 personnel
11%
Oct 6 84,166 acres (34,061 ha)[88] 1,866 personnel
11%
Oct 7 85,952 acres (34,784 ha)[34] 1,951 personnel
11%
Oct 8 85,952 acres (34,784 ha)[35] 2,069 personnel
11%
Oct 9 87,145 acres (35,266 ha)[36] 1,972 personnel
20%
Oct 10 87,145 acres (35,266 ha)[38] 1,935 personnel
20%
Oct 11 87,468 acres (35,397 ha)[37] 2,118 personnel
30%
Oct 12 87,467 acres (35,397 ha)[89] 2,083 personnel
30%
Oct 13 87,786 acres (35,526 ha)[90] 2,019 personnel
40%
Oct 14 87,786 acres (35,526 ha)[91] 1,588 personnel
45%
Oct 15 87,786 acres (35,526 ha)[92] 1,460 personnel
45%
Oct 16 87,850 acres (35,552 ha)[93] 780 personnel
55%
Oct 17 87,890 acres (35,568 ha)[94] 747 personnel
55%
Oct 18 88,068 acres (35,640 ha)[95] 657 personnel
55%
Oct 19 88,184 acres (35,687 ha)[96] 695 personnel
55%
Oct 20 88,278 acres (35,725 ha)[97] 671 personnel
60%
Oct 21 88,307 acres (35,737 ha)[39] 567 personnel
60%
... ... ...
Dec 16 88,307 acres (35,737 ha)[45] ...
100%

See also

References

Notes
  1. Reported acreage decreased by 1 acre between October 11 and October 12; this is likely due to more accurate infrared mapping or GIS calculations.

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