Here's how California is fire-proofing ancient trees as forest blaze rages

Firefighters in California are wrapping fire-resistant blankets around the giant and ancient Sequoia trees at the Sequoia National Park as the forest fires threaten the world's biggest trees.

Sequoia National Park was shut down earlier this week as two forest fires burned in steep and dangerous terrain in California’s Sierra Nevada.

Both fires were projected to advance in the direction of Giant Forest, which is home to more than 2,000 giant sequoias including the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume.

Also watch: US wildfires: Over 300K acres burned across 6 states, worst on record

More than 350 firefighters, along with helicopters and water-dropping planes, have been mobilised to battle the blazes.

They have wrapped several trees, including General Sherman, with aluminium foil to protect them, BBC has reported.