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

reply to post by phantomjack


If intentionally set, what kind of sick asshat would set fire to this tree??

Humanity sucks.

reply to post by phantomjack

Arson is ruled out in the blaze that destroyed the cypress, one of the world's oldest.

www.latimes.com...


Still very sad but I am heartened malicious intent was not responsible.

There was a terrible ice storm here a few years ago, the main casualties were the trees. So painful to hear them shattering, so horrible to see them broken afterwards.

No matter the cause, man or nature, the death of a tree, especially a grand old one like the Senator is a loss.

This tree sprouted around the time of Ramses the I or II when they were ruling Egypt.
The fact that it suvived in Florida is a miracle. That tree must of seen a hundred hurricanes or more.
To be taken out now.

BUT

from what I hear, it was basically on its last legs. It was hollowed out, it wasn't long for this world. Shame it burned and the wood couldnt of been spread around.

They say it had enough wood to build a house.

3500 years is a long time for a plant.

Don't understand how you could want to kill something that has lived for thousands of years..I would rather conserve than destroy...I just don't see the point in it

Where did everybody go?

No longer interested?

You only care when you feel that it is justifiable to be pissed off about it?

Don't know what to do now, since you have no legitimate reason for your rage?

Searching for another story where you can once again pretend to be mad??
[color=616161]You people really crack me up.... sometimes.

Arson was initially suspected. There was no lightning in the area Monday morning, and there is not electrical wiring in the area of the tree. But [color=88E397]the investigator could find [color=58FF05]nothing [color=88E397]to support the arson theory.

azstarnet.com...



www.thestar.com...

Originally posted by phantomjack
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

I saw your thread before it was closed. Can you repost the photos you originally posted on your thread? They were pretty impressive.

I always found the trees at the Edison estate to be impressive too. Those were the first cypress trees I had experienced a long time ago when I was a younger chap.

Sure


I see someone further down posted the pics of it on fire

Yea I find trees this big and old to be quite impressive. Makes you wonder what all they have "seen."

reply to post by BrokenCircles


What are you so upset about? It's only been a day and people have things like work and family. I haven't really posted because I haven't found anything new on it. I will keep looking since this is local for me and there will be more local news on it than anything else. If I find anything I will add it here.

I have read and seen a few news reports that say arson and others say it wasn't arson.

I have been to this tree and seen it, it bothers me it burned down. I have no idea how it could have just caught fire on its own... There is another tree, Lady Liberty, that is about 2000 yrs old that is close that wasn't harmed as well. Apparently there were a few trees there that were thousands of yrs old but it looks like Lady Liberty is now the only one left.

Any ideas?

Just found this:

Investigators are now saying arson was not the likely cause of a fire that on Monday destroyed a cypress tree in Central Florida that was an estimated 3,500 years old — making it perhaps the oldest such tree in the nation and one of the oldest in the world.

Known as "The Senator," the tree that once stood 165 feet tall (before a hurricane lopped off about 45 feet in 1925) was more likely brought down by a fire that had been smoldering inside it — without being detected — since a lightning strike about a week ago, investigators say.

I guess it was lightning from a week ago....I'm NO weather expert but how does this happen? How does a fire do this? I always thought once something caught on fire it was done, it didn't sit there for a week. Learn something new every day it seems.

source

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
Just found this:

Investigators are now saying arson was not the likely cause of a fire that on Monday destroyed a cypress tree in Central Florida that was an estimated 3,500 years old — making it perhaps the oldest such tree in the nation and one of the oldest in the world.

Known as "The Senator," the tree that once stood 165 feet tall (before a hurricane lopped off about 45 feet in 1925) was more likely brought down by a fire that had been smoldering inside it — without being detected — since a lightning strike about a week ago, investigators say.

I guess it was lightning from a week ago....I'm NO weather expert but how does this happen? How does a fire do this? I always thought once something caught on fire it was done, it didn't sit there for a week. Learn something new every day it seems.

source

it can happen my ex "neighbor's" [crackhead] mattress caught fire when his lighter exploded
i soaked the damn thing like for 15 minutes, on his insistence it was the only way

i go to bed
4 hours later the coughing wakes me up and for a sec i thought the house was on fire
yup it was the mattress burning bright

half an hour soaking with the hose and back to bed

next morning when i get up there is only a pile of ashes and the springs


one way [the slow but sure way] of determining arson is if any real estate projects occur on or near the site in the next 6 months or so

reply to post by mblahnikluver

I have read and seen a few news reports that say arson and others say it wasn't arson.

Maybe it was arson. Maybe it wasn't.

What are you so upset about?

I'm not upset. I find it amusing. I see it all the time on this site. Regardless of whether or not they realize it, the actual motto that most of the people on this site adhere to, is:
[color=E8BB87]"Pics or it didn't happen, unless it is something I can be pissed off about. If I can pretend to be angry, then proof is not necessary. A simple suggestion is all that is required."

Any ideas?

Spontaneous combustion is a possibility, considering that there was rotting wood enclosed within a hollow tree.

This whole event just took a turn into the Twilight Zone.

"Seminole Co. could spend $60K on Senator tree security"
www.wftv.com...

Officials want to protect what's left. They're proposing possibilities of a fence around the tree, another one around the park, and up to three security cameras to look down on the site that everyone used to look up to.

If the county gets all three, it could cost more than $60,000.

There are also a couple options to memorialize the tall tree: Nurture the seedlings, which might be its offspring, or replace it with a clone.

This seems awefully strange to me. It's as if they want to experiment with this fallen piece of natural hisotry as a means of conditioning the public into never having to say goodbye. I think it's fine and quite natural to save its seedlings, but keeping watch over The Senator's "corpse" with three security cameras or even cloning the tree?

Was some ritual performed around this tree and now those who are in the know aren't able to let go?

Thoughts?

Originally posted by v1rtu0s0
But it didn't survive humans...

according to ATS eywitness testimony without human intervention it would already have fallen over

After claiming it burned down from a smoldering lightning strike, the Forrest Service has now made an arrest in the case.

Woman arrested in 'The Senator' tree fire

A 26-year-old Seminole County woman was arrested Tuesday in the fire that destroyed the oldest pond cypress tree in the world -- The Senator -- at Big Tree Park in Longwood.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services arrested Sara Barnes on charges of intentional burning of land, a third-degree felony.

Two tips from Crimeline led the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to arrest Barnes, authorities said. Tipsters said Barnes had taken cellphone pictures of the fire in the progress and uploaded them to her laptop, officials said.

Deputies and agents served a search warrant Tuesday at her home near Winter Park. They seized a cellphone and a laptop, which are still being processed to see if the photos of the fire can be retrieved, according to authorities.

Barnes told authorities that she and a friend were inside the hollow tree on the early morning of Jan. 16 and lit a fire so they could see better.

Click Orlando


What kind of idiot starts a fire inside a tree so they can see better?

I hope they throw the book at this !