The blaze burning through Sequoia National Forest in California has grown to more than 50,000 acres. Authorities are looking for a woman who walked into a store and said her campfire sparked the blaze.
The McNalley Fire continues to expand in three directions through dry forest areas and generally away from inhabited areas. It´s completely uncontained.
The blaze began Sunday and has grown by thousands of acres each day since. Firefighters´ main concern is that winds might push the fire closer to groves of sequoia trees that are among the largest and oldest living things on earth.
The trunks of sequoias can endure countless fires as part of natural cycles. But fires can kill the huge trees when other trees spread the flames above their trunks and into their limbs.
The fire is burning about 140 miles southeast of Sonora in Tulare County.
This post was last modified on 07/16/2014 1:31 pm