'The Senator' falls: Fire destroys world's 5th oldest tree

While I am NOT what you would call a "Tree Hugger", I am what you could call a sentimentalist. I love nature, and I have always had a passion for trees -- not from an environmentalist point of view, but for their age and beauty.

This is a tragic event

"The Senator" was the tallest cypress tree in the United States, and believed to be the oldest of its kind in North America, and the fifth oldest tree in the world.

A passer-by reported the fire around 5:45 a.m. Monday.

Investigators said there was no lightning in the area Monday morning, so they believe it was arson. Most likely, they said, someone broke into the park overnight and intentionally set the fire.

FULL SOURCE

I have always had a liking to the cyprus trees of Florida. Their age and beauty are amazing. I believe that trees of this age tell a historical story.

The people who are involved in this arson and destruction of natural history should be hanged. IMHO.

"The Senator tree is located in Big Tree Park near Longwood in Florida. It is considered as the largest Bald Cypress tree in US. It is estimated that this tree is more than 3400 years old."
but the oldest trees on the planet is "Old Tjikko" its 9550 years old

Originally posted by Hawkeyes
"The Senator tree is located in Big Tree Park near Longwood in Florida. It is considered as the largest Bald Cypress tree in US. It is estimated that this tree is more than 3400 years old."
but the oldest trees on the planet is "Old Tjikko" its 9550 years old

R.I.P. "The Senator" your one tree that wont be forgotten

Just imagine everything the tree survived, the fires, floods, droughts, climate changes...

But it didn't survive humans...

Hard to see any details in those blurry pics, but it appears that the fire was up a little ways, and not at the base. Just from what is in that article, arson seems like bad wild guess.





reply to post by Hawkeyes


You talk like a bot. If you're just gonna copy and paste, you should add a link.
Like this↓

Wright said the hollow tree was burning from the inside out, creating a chimney-like effect.

www.cfnews13.com...

Burning from the inside, and up a bit, not on the ground = arson?

Surprised they don't just blame it on fireworks.

Sad, very sad.
I am a tree lover and can really appreciate a great old tree.
I wonder what kind of POS would do this.

The sooner we are exterminated from this planet the better off ALL LIFE FORMS on this planet will be.
That is just a fact my friends.
I don't WANT it to be true but boy is it!!

Originally posted by BrokenCircles

Wright said the hollow tree was burning from the inside out, creating a chimney-like effect.

www.cfnews13.com...

Burning from the inside, and up a bit, not on the ground = arson?

Surprised they don't just blame it on fireworks.

Wheres it say "and up a bit, not on the ground"

I see " creating a chimney like effect", meaning that its burning on the ground and spreading on its insides, upwards.

What the hell, this is just sickening, that someone would burn one of the Oldest trees in the World, and the Oldest in the US. This tree has seen a lot of History, and could have lived to be much Older, leave it up to an absolute idiot, and attention getter, to burn it down.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


Sorry i am new to this website. thanks for the advice.

reply to post by CaticusMaximus

Originally posted by CaticusMaximus

Wheres it say "and up a bit, not on the ground"

It doesn't.

Originally posted by BrokenCircles

Hard to see any details in those [color=B5FFD0]blurry pics, but it [color=B5FFD0]appears that the fire was up a little ways, and not at the base. Just from what is in that article, arson seems like a bad wild guess.

That tree was older than America itself.

Sometimes i am so ashamed by our actions.

Regards to all

reply to post by BrokenCircles


Its logical to assume the fire had either burned itself out, or that it was put out by the fire fighters.

If you think arson is a bad wild guess, what is your proposed alternative explanation?

The tree was grounded to protect it from lightning strikes.
That makes a good argument for arson as the culprit.
17' in diameter! That was one big cypress.
We recently lost our champion Tulip tree here in Virginia that was even bigger than the Senator,

I should have loved to have been around 1,000 years ago when giant trees were the norm.

reply to post by CaticusMaximus

Fire chars the top of 'The Senator,' the oldest tree in Seminole County, at Big Tree Park in Longwood - Monday, Jan. 16, 2012.

Aerial view of Big Tree Park as fire chars the top of 'The Senator,' the oldest and tallest tree in Seminole County - Monday, Jan. 16, 2012.

'The Senator' just days before it was destroyed by a fire at Big Tree Park, in Longwood - Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. (Photo: Jennifer Peace)

'The Senator,' a 125-foot-tall bald cypress tree in Longwood's Big Tree Park, catches fire early Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. 'The Senator' is believed to be the oldest cypress tree in North America.

It's hard to tell with these pics. I was just saying that to me, based on what I can see, it doesn't appear to have started 125 ft. below the top.



eta: Maybe it was spontaneous combustion.
Wouldn't be the first time.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


But these trees are hollow. How can you tell where it would start on the inside, if by only looking at pictures of the outside?

Islamic Jihad.

Read up on it.

reply to post by CaticusMaximus

What I am saying, is extremely simple. I will attempt to simplify it even more, since this is the last time that I am going to say it:

[color=F1FFBA]This one particular article about this tree, states only one reason that leads toward the possibility of this fire being created by arson. ↓

[color=BAF1FF]Investigators said there was no lightning in the area Monday morning, so they believe it was arson.

Maybe they know more than that. Maybe they have the whole thing on video. Maybe pigs actually can fly. It does not matter. This article gives no other detail regarding any evidence that leads to the conclusion of arson, other than "There wasn't any lightning."

Unlike many of the commenters in this thread and below that article, "No Lightning" is just not enough for me to get pissed off about it. That minute detail is just not a good enough reason for me to believe the assumption of arson.


Is there more evidence? Maybe.
Could it have been an intentional arson? Yup, it sure could have.
Do I wholeheartedly believe it was arson, based only on one weak detail? Of course not.


www.cfnews13.com...

Ah crap. I made a thread and even checked the forums

I have seen this tree, it's not far from where I grew up. It was huge! People would link their arms and "hug" the tree.

It's sad that someone would do this. There is no reason why it would have just burned on it's own. According to the news it was arson.

Why people do such things is beyond me.

We use to have one of the oldest figs trees in our front yard and a few yrs ago a previous tenant BURNED it to the ground cause it blocked his view! He then went to burn the Oak Tree, which is the oldest in Brevard County, but cops got him before he could do that.

It makes me sad that someone did this to The Senator. He was here first, hope he is in tree heaven.

S&F

That's a shame...

I actually saw that tree (in person) several years ago!

I looked kinda sickly to me, with concrete filling in the rather large rotten spots, And had chain-link fencing wrapped around it to help hold it together......

But it still had some green leaves waaaaay up on it's highest branches....


R.I.P. Senator, you'll be missed

I have been looking at more sources on the fire:

The cause of an early morning fire in Seminole County that destroyed one of the world's oldest cypress trees remained a mystery Monday, but an investigator is convinced it was not the work of an arsonist.

An investigator with the state Division of Forestry has listed the cause of the fire as "undetermined," but has ruled out arson as the cause, said Cliff Frazier, a spokesman for that agency.

Seems they are now ruling out arson where previous reports were saying it was arson. Confused I am!

I know nothing about fire but how would a tree just catch fire without the right conditions? There has been no lightning in the area and there are no power lines that could have caused it. From what they have shown on the news it's just that tree, the surrounding trees look fine.

I hope they figure it out....to me it just seems off that this particular tree would burn down on it's own where conditions just don't fit. But then again I'm not a fire expert.