The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Wildfire threatens historic trees at Sequoia National Park. Fireproof blankets are the defense.

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September 17, 2021 at 10:08 a.m. EDT
Firefighters wrapped the historic General Sherman Tree, estimated to be more than 2,300 years old, with fireproof blankets in California's Sequoia National Park. (National Park Service/AFP/Getty Images) (Handout/AFP/Getty Images)

A week after California’s KNP Complex Fire was sparked by lightning strikes, the blazes continue to threaten Sequoia National Park, prompting crews to wrap fireproof blankets around the bases of several giant sequoias, known to be among the tallest and oldest trees in the world.

Firefighters on Thursday were seen covering the base of several trees in the protective aluminum wrap, including the 275-foot General Sherman, the world’s largest tree by volume, according to the National Park Service. General Sherman grows in the park’s Giant Forest, a grove of ancient giant sequoias where some trees are estimated to be as much as 2,700 years old.