Fight the clock to save the world's largest tree from California wildfires

09/17/2021 12:37 PM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 09/17/2021 12:37 PM

A group of firefighters wrapped the base of the world's largest tree in California in

a fire-resistant blanket

in an attempt to save a famous grove of gigantic redwoods from wildfires burning in the rugged Sierra Nevada.

Inside Sequoia National Park, numerous specimens were wrapped to protect them from the intensity of the flames,

including the colossal General Sherman tree

in the Giant Forest and some other giant sequoias.

General Sherman, considered the largest tree in the world, is

84 meters high, with a trunk 11 meters in diameter

at the base.

At 18 meters tall, the trunk has a diameter of 5.3 meters. 

Firefighters working in the national park to protect trees from flames.

Photo: AFP

According to fire department spokeswoman Rebecca Paterson, the Giant Forest Museum and other buildings in the area also received such protection. 

Aluminum wrap can

withstand intense heat for short periods

.

National officials explained that they have been using this material for several years throughout the western United States as one to

protect sensitive structures from flames

.

Near Lake Tahoe, some houses that were wrapped in protective material survived a recent wildfire, while others nearby were destroyed.

Image of General Sherman, the largest tree in the world.

Photo: Clarín Archive.

The Colonia fire, one of two currently active in the park, is expected to reach the vicinity of the Giant Forest in the next few hours.

Last year, a series of fires destroyed numerous redwoods,

some of them hundreds of years old.

The firefighters also planned to implement a plan to generate fires to control the advance of the flames,

a strategy that has been used for 50 years

to protect these trees.

A historic drought, coupled with heat waves, have contributed to wildfires in the western United States in recent months.

According to scientists, climate change has made

the region drier and warmer in the last 30 years

, a fact that will only worsen.

The fires forced the evacuation of the park, and parts of the town of Three Rivers, located just outside the park entrance, also had to do the same. 

With information from the ANSA agency and The Guardian

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