California wildfires reach edge of sequoia grove containing world’s largest tree

Firefighters were temporarily driven away as two blazes merged and made a run to the edge of the Giant Forest in Sequoia national park

Two lightning-sparked wildfires in California have merged and made a run to the edge of a grove of ancient sequoias, briefly driving away firefighters as they tried to protect the world's largest tree by wrapping its base in protective foil.

A shift in the weather fanned flames in the Sequoia national park in the Sierra Nevada on Friday, the National Park Service said. The flames reached the westernmost tip of the Giant Forest, where it scorched a grouping of sequoias known as the Four Guardsmen, which mark the entrance to the grove of 2,000 sequoias.