The Doerner Fir is the tallest known living Douglas fir at 327 feet, making it the tallest non-redwood tree on Earth. It grows in a remnant of old-growth forest managed by the Coos Bay BLM in Coos County, Oregon. (Terry Richard/The Oregonian)
Oregon’s tallest tree, a 326-foot Douglas fir east of Coquille in Coos County, has been on fire for two days, officials said. The blaze has severely damaged the tree and caused a 50-foot-long section to crash to the ground.
The fire was initially reported to authorities just before 2 p.m. Saturday and has been contained to the single tree, according to Brett Weidemiller, an assistant unit forester with the Coos Forest Protective Association, a nonprofit that provides wildland-fire protection in Coos, Curry, and western Douglas counties.
As of Monday morning, firefighters are still weighing how best to extinguish the flames, which stretch to the very top of the giant tree, Weidemiller told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land in the area, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Responders have been using drones, helicopters, sprinklers and other tools to fight the fire and prevent its spread in the heavily forested area, Weidemiller said. Due to the significant risk of falling debris, firefighters have been unable to work directly around the tree’s base.
“You figure that a 50-foot chunk of tree falling 200 feet and hitting a firefighter, you can imagine what can happen as a result,” Weidemiller said.
More than a dozen personnel are actively working at the site, Weidemiller said. Emergency responders are utilizing two helicopters to combat the flames.
“It’s kind of an assessment game,” Weidemiller said. “So we’re trying to figure out the best method to put the fire out in the top of the tree. … We have a trail wide around the tree outside of the area where things can fall and hurt our firefighters, and then closer to the base of the tree, where this stuff, as it burns, is going to fall to the ground, we have sprinkler systems set up.”
The massive tree, known as the Doerner Fir, is one of the tallest trees in the world that is not a redwood, according to the Bureau of Land Management. It is named after Ray Doerner, a former Douglas County commissioner and longtime BLM employee.
The tree’s diameter stretches to nearly 12 feet. It is estimated to be between 450 and 500 years old.