National Park Service Tests Controlled Burn Near World’s Largest Living Tree

A picture taken March 09, 2014 shows a tourist posing for a photo next to the General Sherman Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) at Sequoia National Park in California. With an estimated volume of 1,487 cubic metres (52,513 cu ft), General Sherman sequoia is the largest tree on earth. The tree's height is 83.8 metres (275 ft), its diameter - 7.7 metres (25 ft) and its estimated age - 2,3002,700 years. Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images

The National Park Service (NPS) attempted to conduct a controlled burn near the world’s largest living tree but decided to postpone it on Oct. 19. Authorities said a test fire failed to burn strong enough due to too much moisture in the vegetation.

The controlled burn project named the 2018 Sherman Prescribed Burn was planned for 483 acres of land in the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, only about a half mile away from the Giant Forest Museum.