🌅 The World’s Tallest Douglas Fir Was Saved from Fire

SOURCE

Coos Forest Protective Association

WHAT TO KNOW

• The world’s tallest douglas fir tree was on fire from August 16-21. Firefighters doused the tree with water from helicopters and sprinklers to combat the flames, however, after days of fighting, the rescuers tasked a group of arborists with extinguishing the final hotspot burning some 280 feet off the ground inside the tree’s 11.5-foot diameter trunk (one of the arborists also shared an up-close look at the rescue). Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, though it appears it may have been intentionally set.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Located in southwest Oregon within the state’s famed coastal mountain range, the 450-year-old tree, known as the Doerner Fir, was officially measured at 327 feet tall back in 2008. The tree lost roughly 50 feet of its height due to the fire, meaning it’s no longer the world’s tallest douglas fir, though state officials believe the damage is largely superficial and think the tree will recover.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• The Doerner Fir isn’t to be confused with Hyperion, the 379-foot coast redwood located in Northern California that’s currently the tallest of the world’s more than 3 trillion trees. While that figure may sound like a lot, it’s only half the number that populated the Earth when human civilization first arose.