University of California, Davis partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service to examine 19 groves in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park.
More than 26,000 giant sequoias of the giant trees were within the boundaries of the 2020 Castle Fire and the 2021 KNP Complex Fire.
Researchers looked closely at historical records showing the details of controlled fires and examined mapping images to compare trees that survived to those that died.
UC Davis determined that controlled fires spared about 1,900 trees from death, with 4,000 trees likely having survived.
Dan Dixon, lead author of the study and researcher at UC Davis, expresses how important controlled fires are for the giant trees.
"For sequoias, it's going to be absolutely essential, and the managers and the folks in the park, they know that. They're doing their best to get as much low-intensity fire on the ground as possible to be able to control and reduce the fuel loads," Dixon said.
Many Giant Sequoias are more than 3,000 years old, only growing at high elevations on the western slopes of the California Sierra Nevada mountains.
With their thick bark, giant sequoias can withstand most prescribed burns and even thrive in them.