Officials race to protect one of the world’s tallest trees from a blaze

Federal officials are enlisting arborists and other tree experts as they scramble to develop a plan to protect one of the world’s tallest nonredwood trees from losing a significant chunk of its height to a fire.

The historic tree in southwestern Oregon, named the Doerner Fir, is a coastal Douglas fir that stood at about 325 feet before the blaze, said Megan Harper, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management. The 450- to 500-year-old tree – located on remote, federal land in Coos County – has already lost about 50 feet of its height since it ignited Saturday, she said.

The Doerner Fir, formerly called the Brummit Fir, is the only tree burning in the area. Officials have ruled out lightning as the cause. Chris Adlam, a regional wildland fire specialist at Oregon State University, said it’s possible that a human started the blaze.

The Bureau of Land Management has tried different approaches to put out the ancient tree’s flames, including using aircraft to conduct water drops, digging a containment line at the tree’s base, setting up sprinklers, and using drones to capture aerial images and detect heat signals.

Those strategies, however, have been complicated by the location of the flames: about 280 feet off the ground, inside a cavity within the tree. The challenge has also been compounded by the possibility of hot, thick branches falling below and the logistical difficulties of transporting crews to such a remote location.

Federal officials are trying to form a plan that will allow firefighters to reach and suppress the fire without risking injuries, Harper said.

“In terms of where it measures out in the end, we might not have the record anymore,” Harper said of the Doerner Fir’s height, “but it’ll still be a tall tree if it remains.”

Officials are monitoring the blaze until they can develop a plan, Harper said. As of Wednesday, the fire was still emitting smoke and showing signs of heat.

Helicopters and other resources were on standby in case the burning increased, the Coos Forest Protective Association – a nonprofit that provides wildland fire protection in the region – wrote on social media. Water drops carried out Monday successfully extinguished flames at the top of the fir, the organization said.

The forested landscape around the Doerner Fir has previously experienced fires sparked by lightning and prescribed burnings from Indigenous communities, Adlam said. He said it’s not unusual for Douglas firs to “live through many fires,” given their thick bark.

Older trees are likely to be hollow, raising the chances that fire will get under the bark and burn internally, Adlam said.

“We do need to also zoom out a little bit and see that many, many ancient trees are being destroyed by uncharacteristic fires in many regions,” he said. “And there’s often not much we can do to stop that, and that’s really unfortunate.”

Adlam added that it’s unlikely the Doerner Fir will completely burn down, given the resources dedicated to preserving it.

But if it does, he said, it won’t grow back from its roots. Instead, young saplings from the tree’s seeds will rise in its place.