According to a park spokesperson, hundreds fled Wawona, California after a wildfire destroyed Yosemite National Park’s Mariposa Grove. The Mariposa Grove is home to more than 500 tall sequoias.
Scott Gediman, Yosemite National Park spokesperson, said that approximately 500 people fled a community famous for its historic campground, hotel, and dozens private cabins and homes. The Washburn Fire had landed nearby.
According to Yosemite Fire and Aviation, the blaze had increased from 46 acres on Thursday and 466 acres Friday afternoon.
Gediman stated that none of the massive sequoias in the grove — one of which is estimated to be 2,700 years old — has been set on fire and that no deaths or injuries have been reported. Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.
He said that the hot and dry weather was expected to continue, with temperatures rising in the coming days.
Officials from the park said Mariposa is a popular spot and home to “over 500 mature giants sequoias,” some of which can reach 200 feet.
According to the park’s website, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation protecting Mariposa Grove in 1864.
According to Cal Fire’s 2021 data, California was ravaged last year by wildfires that claimed more than 2.5 million acres and resulted in over 8,800 fires. Three people were killed.
Experts attribute the state’s increasing combustible wildfires and climate change to decades of forest management practices, which turned the state into an inferno.
