The Children’s Forest grove in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, photographed in 2018, shows its recovery from the 2003 Canoe Fire. An ancient stand of the world’s tallest trees has fallen victim to California’s raging wildfires. In addition to repelling insect pests, redwood trees are also naturally fire and fungi resistant. The fire return interval in coast redwood forests varies drastically with latitude, microclimate and distance from the coast. We have lots of good data on this from tree-ring scars throughout the redwood range. Big Ba… (John Harvey) Historically, how many fires have burned through old growth redwoods? Coast redwoods are naturally adapted to resist fire damage. Fire and Fungi Resistant. ... they need to regenerate. These trees have shallow root systems that extend over one hundred feet from the base, intertwining with the roots of other redwoods. Redwoods are naturally resistant to insects, fungi, and fire because they are high in tannin and do … The oldest known tree is 2,200 years old. Despite the resiliency of redwoods, there are many factors that are increasing fire danger and putting communities and forests at greater risk. Redwoods can sprout new growth from the base of the tree, can re-grow new tops when the canopy is damaged and can survive for centuries even when the entire interior of the tree — the heartwood — has been lost to fire. It is not uncommon for trees to reach heights of 200-300 ft. Redwoods are prolific sprouters and can sprout from stumps, the root collar, or along the bole. This increases their stability during strong winds and floods. It’s going to be a while before it’s safe for us to visit these forests and assess the fire effects, and it will be longer still before we fully understand the short- and long-term impacts on the trees. The fire roughly burned 97% of Big Basin Redwoods State Park’s 18,224 acres. The CZU and SCU complex fires near Santa Cruz have ravaged Big Basin State Park. The trees' thick, moist bark often keeps the trunk from catching fire, while redwoods contain little flammable pitch, unlike fir and pine trees. However, this allows for the larger, older redwoods that do survive to have more space and light to grow bigger. Smoke hangs low in the air at California’s Big Basin Redwoods State Park as some redwoods are still on fire on August 22, 2020. That happens in the absence of fire as well.