A grove of famed giant sequoia trees in Kings Canyon National Park was threatened on Friday by a quickly spreading wildfire.

The fire ignited evacuations of thousands of residents in the mountain homes of California’s gold-rush county. The fire was an offspring of the larger Sierra Nevada blaze, according to Reuters.

Firefighters on the ground gave it their all on the defense against the flames biting at Grant Gove. The crew stood strong to protect the ancient redwoods including the General Grant tree which is one the largest and tallest of all the giant sequoias.

According to the spokesman for the fire command, Paul Garnier, the fire got as close as a mile to the area.

Even though giant sequoias are naturally flame-resistant, officials still worked hard to keep the blaze away from the grove so to not cause any damage to the premier park attraction.

The Rough Fire called on more than 2,200 firefighters to the fight, topping California’s list of largest active fire. It scorched over 119,00 acres and pushed both residents, park staff and visitors from the area.

With the containment on the fire listed at 29 percent, hundreds of homes were forced to evacuate in the area, while the park still officially remained open. But since Thursday, all roads leading to Kings Canyon have been closed off.

Another, smaller but greater risk, fire put private property 100 miles away in danger. The Butte Fire took six homes and two outbuildings since its ignition on Wednesday near Jackson. On Friday, Governor Jerry Brown officially declared a state of emergency for Amador and Calaveras counties.

On Friday, 6,000 were threatened by the fire that quickly grew in the hot temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Also facing evacuation was the community of San Andreas of over 2,700 people. But the evacuation was called off when officials noted the flames were headed away from the town.

According to Cal Fire, the blaze took 50,000 acres down.