California crews continue to battle the Coffee Pot fire in the southwest corner of Sequoia National Park, a blaze started nearly four weeks ago by a lightning strike, according to fire officials.
The fire reached nearly 9 square miles Thursday inside the national park, located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains near Lone Pine and Mount Whitney in Central California. The park is known for its towering sequoias that can live up to 3,000 years.
The fire remained officially at zero percent containment Thursday, but firefighters have spent the past two weeks building containment lines in natural features—such as large rock areas, ridges, roads, and rivers—ahead of the flames.
The lines are expected to stop the fire once it reaches them, according to Mike Lindbery, a public information officer for the management team in charge of the incident.
“We’re fighting the fire on our terms, instead of its terms,” Lindbery said. “It allows us to do a lot of good work on this and has a much smaller negative impact on the environment.”
The fire burned down to one of the containment lines Wednesday night, he added.
About 75 percent of the containment lines have been built in the northwest and south regions of the fire. The strategy is to allow the fire to consume the dead and downed fuel, grass and brush as it burns downhill, instead of damaging soil or heading uncontrolled into the ancient sequoia groves, Lindbery said.
Fire officials said multiple crews responded to the blaze and initially put a containment line around it. But after nearly a week of no activity, a burning tree within the perimeter fell and rolled over the containment line.
Nearly 1,500 local, state, federal, and private firefighters are battling the blaze, which started Aug. 3, managed jointly by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) and the U.S. Forest Service.
The fire is burning in steep and rugged terrain with dry fuels, Cal Fire reported.
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux issued more evacuation orders for residents and visitors in the area Wednesday.
Residents were evacuated from the area north of South Fork Drive, east of Skyline Drive in the Salt Creek area, south of Case Mountain and Homers Nose, and west of the national park boundary.
“Unhealthy” smoke was expected in some areas, according to fire officials. The East Fork Kaweah drainage area could reach “hazardous” smoke levels by Thursday night, with conditions improving overnight into Friday.
