California wildfires close Sequoia national park and prompt evacuations

Firefighting efforts are being complicated by smoke preventing aerial drops and the steep, rugged terrain

A complex of lightning-sparked wildfires burning in California's Sierra Nevada has exploded in size, prompting evacuations and the shutdown of Sequoia national park, where the fire is burning close to the park's namesake trees.

The KNP Complex fire, composed of the Paradise and Colony fires, took hold in the dense, mountainous vegetation on 9 September. By Wednesday morning, the blaze had scorched more than 7,000 acres.