World’s biggest tree gets blanket

The world's biggest trees were being wrapped in fire-proof blankets Thursday in an effort to protect them from huge blazes tearing through the drought-stricken western United States.

A grove of ancient sequoias, including the 275-foot (83-meter) General Sherman Tree -- the largest in the world -- were getting aluminum cladding to fend off the flames.

Firefighters were also clearing brush and pre-positioning engines among the 2,000 ancient trees in California's Sequoia National Park, incident commanders said.

"They are taking extraordinary measures to protect these trees," said park resource manager Christy Brigham, according to The Mercury News.

"We just really want to do everything we can to protect these 2,000- and 3,000-year-old trees."

Millions of acres (hundreds of thousands of hectares) of California's forests have burned in this year's ferocious fire season. Scientists say man-made global warming is behind the yearslong drought and rising temperatures that have left the region highly vulnerable to wildfires.

On Thursday, two fires were looming down on the park's Giant Forest, home to five of the world's largest trees, including the General Sherman.