California - Protection against forest fires: Rescue workers try to protect sequoia trees

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Sequoia trees in the smoke: The fires in Sequoia National Park are spreading

Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP

"We're doing everything in our power": The fires in Sequoia National Park in the US state of California are spreading.

The park is home to some of the largest trees in the world, including General Sherman's 8-foot tall and 2,500-year-old sequoia.

Heat forced emergency services to retreat

Fires in the park in the Sierra Nevada have been spreading for about a week.

Hundreds of firefighters have been fighting the flames for days and are trying to protect the trees from the heat with fireproof aluminum foil.

California's historic drought, which is linked to climate change, is making it difficult for emergency responders to contain the forest fires.

Firefighters who wrapped the lower part of the trunks with foil and swept up leaves and needles from the forest floor around the trees were forced to withdraw in the face of the flames, says fire department spokeswoman Katy Hooper the Guardian.

The emergency services returned on Saturday when conditions had calmed down a bit.

In order to protect the trees, they began, among other things, to set counterfire. "When a larger fire enters the area, the sudden lack of fuel slows it down and sometimes even stops it," said Sequoia National Park spokeswoman Rebecca Patterson. Although the trees are considered to be relatively resistant, they too are almost relentlessly exposed to the extraordinary heat of the fires.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for this Sunday.

It says that squalls and lower humidity could create the conditions for the fire to spread quickly.

However, the emergency services do not expect the flames to develop as drastically as on Saturday.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 7,000 California wildfires damaged or destroyed more than 3,000 homes and other buildings this year.

More than 7,700 square kilometers of land were devastated.

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