California firefighters scramble to protect sequoia groves

By NOAH BERGER
Associated Press

THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — Flames have reached a grove of sequoia trees in California as firefighters battled to keep fire from driving further into another grove, where the base of the world’s largest tree has been wrapped in protective foil. Fire officials warn that stronger winds Sunday are also contributing to “critical fire conditions” in the area of the KNP Complex, two lightning-sparked blazes that merged on the western side of Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada. More than 34 square miles of forest land have been blackened.