#garnet-fire

#garnet-fire

A yellow hose runs past the foot of giant sequoias in the Sierra National Forest, and sprinklers drench the forest floor. Those sprinklers are among the last line of defense installed by firefighters to protect giant sequoias in the McKinley Grove from flames, as thunderstorms continue to drive growth on the 29,718-acre Garnet Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada. "The fire is roughly three miles southeast of the grove's southern edge," said Joe Zwierzchowski, the public information officer assigned to the Garnet Fire, in an email to SFGATE on Tuesday afternoon.

By 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, the weather service had recorded about 4,800 lightning strikes from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo, including 1,300 that touched the ground. The weather service said an unknown amount of fires started overnight in southeast Monterey County and in southwestern Fresno County early Tuesday. It was not known immediately how big any of those fires were, but Cal Fire had not reported any new ones on its list of California's major ones.

By 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, the weather service had recorded about 4,800 lightning strikes from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo, including 1,300 that touched the ground. The weather service said an unknown amount of fires started overnight in southeast Monterey County and in southwestern Fresno County early Tuesday. It was not known immediately how big any of those fires were, but Cal Fire had not reported any new ones on its list of California's major ones.