News Release

Eden Fire Grows in Remote Area of Sequoia National Park

News Release Date: November 5, 2018

Contact: Mike Theune, Fire Information Officer, 559-565-3703

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. November 5, 2018 – The Eden Fire continues to slowly grow in the steep and rugged terrain of the John Krebs Wilderness in Sequoia National Park. This lightning-caused fire started on October 4, 2018 during a series of thunderstorms that came through the area the first week of October.

Located in the Eden Creek Grove of giant sequoias, south of Mineral King Road, helicopter-based firefighters, called helitack, mapped the fire from the air to be 151 acres on Monday.

Despite the fire’s visibility, the fire poses no threat to life, property, or infrastructure at this time. Due to its location, with no direct access, and over a century of no fire history, firefighters are monitoring the fire via air.

Naturally-caused lightning fires are part of the Sierra Nevada ecosystem. Giant sequoia groves have adapted for thousands of years to fire and with the Eden Creek Grove in designated wilderness, suppressing the fire with any direct or indirect actions, would have more of a negative impact on the wilderness than the events of the fire itself.

“What we observed during our mission was the type of fire behavior that benefits these giant sequoia groves,” said Paul Stevko, lead helitack for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “The dead and down ground fuels are being consumed with low to moderate intensity under the forest canopy clearing the way for new sequoia growth.”

Smoke is visible during the day from the Mineral King Road and other higher points in the Three Rivers Area. Additionally smoke may be visible from Moro Rock, nine miles to the north, due to the view Moro Rock provides over the Kaweah River watershed.
All areas of Sequoia National Park remain open as previously scheduled. Additionally, there are no impacts to any of the normal operations in the Mineral King section of Sequoia National Park.

Pictures, videos, and maps of the Eden Fire, please visit the official website: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6248/

-NPS-

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.