<p>Firefighters battling to protect the world's biggest tree from wildfires ravaging the parched United States said Friday they are optimistic it can be saved.</p>.<p>Flames are creeping closer to the majestic General Sherman and other giant sequoias, as man-made climate change worsens California's fearsome fire season.</p>.<p>"We have hundreds of firefighters there giving it their all, giving extra care," Mark Garrett, communications officer for the region's fire department, told AFP, of the operation in Sequoia National Park.</p>.<p>Crews are battling the spreading Paradise and Colony fires, which have so far consumed 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres) of forest since they were sparked by lightning a week ago.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/amazons-threatened-species-impacted-by-fires-study-1026071.html" target="_blank">Read | Amazon's threatened species impacted by fires: Study</a></strong></p>.<p>The blazes are threatening Giant Forest, a grove of around 2,000 sequoias that includes five of the largest trees on the planet -- some up to 3,000 years old.</p>.<p>The biggest of them all, the General Sherman stands 83 meters (275 feet) tall.</p>.<p>On Thursday, General Sherman was wrapped in fire-proof blankets -- aluminum foil intended to protect its giant trunk from the worst of the flames.</p>.<p>By Friday, managers felt they had the upper hand, thanks in part to clearing of undergrowth and controlled burns that starve the fire of fuel.</p>.<p>"I think the most challenging part is the terrain here," said Garrett.</p>.<p>But "we haven't seen explosive fire behavior; it really slowed down and gave us a chance to get ahead of it."</p>.<p>Around 600 personnel are involved in the fight.</p>.<p>"We have folks up in the Giant Forest protecting structures and preparing everything.</p>.<p>"The fact is that they've been prescribed burning for the past 25 or 30 years so it is really prepared."</p>.<p>Millions of acres of California's forests have burned in this year's ferocious fire season.</p>.<p>Scientists say global warming, stoked by the unchecked use of fossil fuels is making the area ever-more vulnerable to bigger and more destructive wildfires.</p>.<p>The enormous trees of the Giant Forest are a huge tourist draw, with visitors traveling from all over the world to marvel at their imposing height and extraordinary girth.</p>.<p>While not the tallest trees -- California redwoods can grow to more than 300 feet -- the giant sequoias are the largest by volume.</p>.<p>Smaller fires generally do not harm the sequoias, which are protected by a thick bark and often only have branches 100 feet above the ground.</p>.<p>But the larger, hotter blazes that are laying waste to the western United States are dangerous to them because they climb higher up the trunks and into the canopy.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
<p>Firefighters battling to protect the world's biggest tree from wildfires ravaging the parched United States said Friday they are optimistic it can be saved.</p>.<p>Flames are creeping closer to the majestic General Sherman and other giant sequoias, as man-made climate change worsens California's fearsome fire season.</p>.<p>"We have hundreds of firefighters there giving it their all, giving extra care," Mark Garrett, communications officer for the region's fire department, told AFP, of the operation in Sequoia National Park.</p>.<p>Crews are battling the spreading Paradise and Colony fires, which have so far consumed 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres) of forest since they were sparked by lightning a week ago.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/amazons-threatened-species-impacted-by-fires-study-1026071.html" target="_blank">Read | Amazon's threatened species impacted by fires: Study</a></strong></p>.<p>The blazes are threatening Giant Forest, a grove of around 2,000 sequoias that includes five of the largest trees on the planet -- some up to 3,000 years old.</p>.<p>The biggest of them all, the General Sherman stands 83 meters (275 feet) tall.</p>.<p>On Thursday, General Sherman was wrapped in fire-proof blankets -- aluminum foil intended to protect its giant trunk from the worst of the flames.</p>.<p>By Friday, managers felt they had the upper hand, thanks in part to clearing of undergrowth and controlled burns that starve the fire of fuel.</p>.<p>"I think the most challenging part is the terrain here," said Garrett.</p>.<p>But "we haven't seen explosive fire behavior; it really slowed down and gave us a chance to get ahead of it."</p>.<p>Around 600 personnel are involved in the fight.</p>.<p>"We have folks up in the Giant Forest protecting structures and preparing everything.</p>.<p>"The fact is that they've been prescribed burning for the past 25 or 30 years so it is really prepared."</p>.<p>Millions of acres of California's forests have burned in this year's ferocious fire season.</p>.<p>Scientists say global warming, stoked by the unchecked use of fossil fuels is making the area ever-more vulnerable to bigger and more destructive wildfires.</p>.<p>The enormous trees of the Giant Forest are a huge tourist draw, with visitors traveling from all over the world to marvel at their imposing height and extraordinary girth.</p>.<p>While not the tallest trees -- California redwoods can grow to more than 300 feet -- the giant sequoias are the largest by volume.</p>.<p>Smaller fires generally do not harm the sequoias, which are protected by a thick bark and often only have branches 100 feet above the ground.</p>.<p>But the larger, hotter blazes that are laying waste to the western United States are dangerous to them because they climb higher up the trunks and into the canopy.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>