In Pics | Firefighters try and protect giant sequoias amid California fires

Two lightning-sparked wildfires in California have now merged and made a run to the edge of a grove of ancient sequoias. Scroll down for images. 

Plumes of smoke carry through the air as the fire burns during the Windy Fire in the Sequoia National Forest near Johnsondale, California.

In a long exposure image, flame and smoke rise into the air as trees burn during the Windy Fire. 

Firefighters work to control the Windy Fire as trees burn.

Two lightning-sparked wildfires in California have now merged and made a run to the edge of a grove of ancient sequoias. This happened as they tried to protect the world’s largest tree by wrapping its base in protective foil.

The flames reached the westernmost tip of the Giant Forest, where it scorched a grouping of sequoias known as the Four Guardsmen. This further led to entrance to the grove of 2,000 sequoias.

According to the National Park Service, the General Sherman Tree is the largest in the world by volume, at 52,508 cubic ft. It is 275ft high and has a circumference of 103ft at ground level.

Burned ground surrounds the base of a tree in Long Meadow Grove, a Giant Sequoia tree grove, after fire burned through along the Trail of 100 Giants during the Windy Fire in the Sequoia National Forest near California Hot Springs, California.

A firefighter looks up the base of a Giant Sequoia in Long Meadow Grove, a Giant Sequoia tree grove, after fire burned through along the Trail of 100 Giants during the Windy Fire in the Sequoia National Forest near California Hot Springs,