Santa Rosa Island fire burns through rare Torrey pine grove. But there's hope for the endangered tree

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The critically endangered Torrey pine tree only grows naturally two places in the world — a state park near San Diego and on Santa Rosa Island — and one of those places is on fire.A wildfire sparked by a flare from a shipwrecked sailor has burned through nearly one-third of Santa Rosa Island, including the Torrey pine grove located on east side of the island, according to the National Park Service.The extent of damage done to the nation’s rarest pine tree species remains unclear.

But there is reason for hope.On Monday, the blaze passed through the pine grove area, which is home to trees that are more than 250 years old, according to the park service.Fortunately, the fire was burning at a low intensity at the time, and when fire crews performed an initial assessment, they observed that the stand of trees remained largely intact, according to the park service.It is likely that the grove retained some heat and isolated pockets of fire, park service public information officer Sierra Frisbie said Tuesday evening.

Drones will be used to perform a more in-depth assessment of the condition of the Torrey pines on Wednesday, she noted.California A wildfire sparked by the flare of a shipwrecked mariner has burned around one-fourth of Santa Rosa Island and marks what officials called the largest blaze recorded on the island in modern history.

“I was devastated yesterday when I saw the maps that the fire was reaching into the Torrey pines,” said Greg Pauly, a curator of herpetology at the L.A.County Museum of Natural History who has studied the Channel Islands for 14 years.

“This is one of only two Torrey pine populations left in the world.”Thousands of years of genetic isolation have made the island pine a distinct subspecies from the trees found in Torrey Pines State Reserve in San Diego, according to the park service.The island tree is shorter and bushier, its bark thick...