All four of the injured firefighters have been treated and released from the hospital.
Editor’s note: It has since been confirmed by the National Park Service that the injured patients are, in fact, firefighters.
Gregory Yee
Los Angeles Times
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — A falling tree injured four people working on the KNP Complex fire, which continues to threaten iconic giant sequoias in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, officials confirmed late Thursday night.
Authorities got a radio call around 3 p.m. Thursday stating that a tree had fallen and hit four people working on the fire, officials said.
“The patients were all brought to the nearest helispot and were transported by air to area hospitals,” officials said.
All four people suffered serious injuries but were in stable condition as of Thursday night, officials said.
Authorities did not initially specify whether the four injured people were firefighters.
https://twitter.com/SequoiaKingsNPS/status/1446340370736971777
Follow-up questions submitted by The Times were not answered.
Since igniting from a lightning strike on Sept. 9, the KNP Complex fire has emerged as one of the highest-profile wildfires in a historic season marked by never-before-seen fire behavior, such as burning from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other.
Flames consumed 85,952 acres and the fire was 11% contained as of Thursday night.
Authorities around the state, meanwhile, continue to worry that the high-intensity flames may have killed hundreds of giant sequoias as they tore through 15 groves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Officials plan to survey the area to accurately assess the damage.
___
©2021 Los Angeles Times