Sequoia forest after a high intensity fire, illustration. The giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is native to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, USA. The thick bark makes the tree resistant to the recurrent forest fires of the region, which trigger the release of seeds from the sequoia cones. However, the increase in fire intensity in the 21st century has lead to more sequoias being killed in forest fires and their cones being incinerated. A high intensity fire sees an 84 per cent mortality rate for vegetation, with even the largest trees dying. Sequoia cone are incinerated and so no seedlings emerge after the fire. For a sequence of images showing the varying outcome of sequoia forest fires see C059/9892-9895.