| KNP Complex Fire | |
|---|---|
 Firefighters monitor a low-intensity burnout operation in a giant sequoia grove | |
| Date(s) |
|
| Location | Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 36°34′01″N 118°48′40″W / 36.567°N 118.811°W[1] |
| Statistics | |
| Burned area | 88,307 acres (35,737 ha; 138 sq mi; 357 km2) |
| Impacts | |
| Non-fatal injuries | ≥5 |
| Evacuated | ≥659 |
| Structures destroyed | 4 |
| Damage |
|
| Ignition | |
| Cause | Lightning |
| Map | |
 The majority of the KNP Complex Fire lay within the footprint of Sequoia National Park | |
  The fire burned in Tulare County, on the Sierra Nevada's western slope | |
The 2021 KNP Complex Fire was a large wildfire complex in Sequoia National Park and the Sequoia National Forest in Central California's Tulare County. After lightning ignited several fires in the southern Sierra Nevada on September 9, two of them burned together and spread to 88,307 acres (35,737 hectares). The fire was not declared contained until mid-December after several atmospheric rivers curbed its growth. Firefighting costs surpassed $170 million.
The KNP Complex forced the communities of Three Rivers, Wilsonia, and Cedar Grove to evacuate, and caused the temporary closure of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for long periods while damaging roads, trails, and cabins. The fire also heavily impacted the endangered giant sequoia population, which grows in less than a hundred natural groves in the western Sierra Nevada. The National Park Service estimates that the KNP Complex Fire killed roughly 1,300–2,400 large giant sequoias. Hundreds more died in the Windy Fire in the Sequoia National Forest, which burned contemporaneously. The two fires are estimated to have killed as much as 3–5 percent of the total population of large giant sequoias.
- ^ "KNP Complex". www.fire.ca.gov. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.