Workers in California have scrambled to protect the world's largest tree in Sequoia national park's giant forest by wrapping it with fire-resistant blankets. The extreme measure was taken as the wildfires burning in the Sierra Nevada had threatened to move to the forest.
Officials said the colossal General Sherman tree in Sequoia national park and other sequoia trees have all been wrapped for protection in case the fire spread to the famous grove of gigantic trees. Structures in the area, including the Giant Forest Museum, have also been wrapped.
The trees have been wrapped with a fire-resistant aluminum material that can withstand intense heat for short periods of time. Officials said the type of material has been used for years and it has proven to be effective in protecting sensitive structures from wildfires.
Officials said that the Colony fire, one of two burning within the park, is expected to reach the giant tree located in a grove of 2,000 other sequoia trees later this week. Some of the trees that have already burned down were as tall as buildings and several thousands of years old.
According to the National Park Service, General Sherman is the largest tree in the world by volume. The tree stands more than 84 meters high with a circumference of about 31 meters.
Officials are hopeful that the Giant Forest and General Sherman will survive the latest wildfires. Over the past 50 years, officials have been setting fires on purpose around the grove to get rid of other trees and vegetation to prevent natural wildfires.
Park service officials said giant sequoias are already resistant to fires and they do depend on occasional blazes to spread and grow. Fires often create clearings and help new sequoias take root. However, recent wildfires have become larger and too hard to control - a phenomenon that scientists have attributed to heatwaves caused by climate change.
Apart from protecting the trees, officials have also evacuated the park and part of the town of Three Rivers just outside the park's main entrance. Local officials have also dispatched bulldozers as part of an attempt to create a line between the fire and the national park.
