If you click on the link in my signature below (Weather Image of the Day) you see what I am talking about. :( I know that fires are a part of nature, but this forest is something special. I hope that they get it under control soon. :([div align=center][link:members.cox.net/fstimes/wetimage.html]Weather Image of the Day!

Yes--it is a special forest. Lived in CA for almost 30 years, and recently, we in Arizona have had to endure the loss of almost a half million acres of Ponderosa Pine.... Those smoke plumes were so intense, I could see them from my office, 100 miles SW of the fire.And your post is not entirely off topic--part of the beauty of flight is the enjoyment of scenery. One of my favorite flights is down Owens Valley in a Bonanza, around sunset. That area of California has stark and beautiful scenery for simming...-John

I sure hope it is saved. My family is planing on visiting there next year. I heard that forest is beautiful.

It is. I have been there only twice. But it really makes you feel small to stand next to a 3000 year old tree that is 15 stories tall. It is something to see and I hope that they save it.I heard on the news that some stupid women started the fire with an illegal open campfire. Dummy! :(

Hope there is little harm done to the Sequoia population. The good thing is that these kinds of forests need the occasional fire - and the Sequoia's have natural protection and generally stand. That is, if the amount of fuel on the forest floor isn't too large for the fire there to become unnaturally large.Don't know if that is the case. This is the first thing I've heard about this fire - will definitely check other news sources soon. These mountain ranges are part of my most favorite places in nature - even all the way from Europe.VinceOkay - had to come back and paste this text from CNN indeed saying that these wonderful trees actually need fire - although not too much of it at the same time. To me this is a plea for more natural foresting:"Sequoia bark is naturally fire-resistant, and the trees' high, widely spaced branches reduce the chance of flames engulfing the entire crown. But human efforts to prevent fires have allowed trees around the tall sequoias to grow higher and allowed litter to build up on the forest floor, leading to hotter, higher fires, experts say. The lack of periodic, lower-temperature fires also have inhibited sequoias' ability to reproduce -- sequoia cones release their seeds only when heated by fire. "

i know how it is i have lived in Colorado for 6 years and when these fires kicked up this summer i was out in Hawii when the big one hit and i didn't know if my house was ok or not i got back and it was. a friend of mine's cabin was at one point a half mile from the fire but it came through just fine. It can be very scary at times. Good Luck

OK ... now it makes sense. Now I know where all the smoke in CYXC is coming from.http://members.shaw.ca/dan_cyxc/sigcard.jpg

Sorry the picture has been changed...it was a high res sat image of the fires in Calif... :(The low res image is below...