THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — Cooler weather is helping crews trying to keep California wildfires away from a threatened grove of gigantic ancient sequoias, including the world’s largest tree.

Unlike raging wildfires that have burned vast areas of the drought-stricken U.S. West this summer, the blazes in Sequoia National Park aren't explosive. The flames on Friday were about a mile from the famous Giant Forest, a grove of some 2,000 sequoias.

Lower temperatures and a layer of smoke blanketing the area have been suppressing the flames.

Elsewhere in the fire-scarred West, a storm is heading into Washington state and Oregon, and rain is expected to drop in parts of Northern California.