THE Crannell Giant, which had lived for 3,000 years near the Little River in Humboldt County, California, was felled by loggers in 1926. It contained about 70,000 cubic feet of wood, making it the biggest single organism ever recorded.

A wind-driven fire grew to more than 15,000 acres today, forcing more than 1,000 people to flee an area near California’s Sequoia National Park and threatening towering trees along the Trail of 100 Giants.