[pcmaffey]

Trees rarely burn to the ground in a wildfire. Their foliage burns quickly and the bark chars, but it takes years for even trees in the hottest spots to finally fall and then, many more years to decompose back into the soil.

[_huayra_]

This depends on the health of the tree. The bark beetle has decimated many pine trees in the sierra nevadas, leaving many trees standing but actually sick or dead, and unable to resist a forest fire.