World’s largest tree wrapped in foil to protect it from California wildfires

This photo provided by the Southern Area Blue Incident Management Team on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, shows the giant sequoia known as the General Sherman Tree with its base wrapped in a fire-resistant blanket to protect it from the intense heat of approaching wildfires at Sequoia National Forest in California. (Southern Area Blue Incident Management Team via AP)

A tree that’s larger than the Statue of Liberty from its base to the torch is trying to be shielded from the wildfires burning in California.

The General Sherman Tree, based in Sequoia National Park, has been wrapped in aluminum-based-burn-resistant material, according to CNN.

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The tree is 275 feet tall and more than 36 feet in diameter at its base.

“We basically told the fire crews to treat all our special sequoias like they were buildings, and wrap them all up, and rake all the litter away and roll away the heavy logs,” Christy Brigham, chief of resource management and science for the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, told CNN.

Brigham said in the article that the current fire has crossed the main road and is burning toward the giant trees.


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