3,500-Year-Old Tree Nicknamed ‘The Senator’ Burns to the Ground
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“The Senator,” a 118-foot, 3,500-year-old bald cypress tree located in Big Tree Park in Longwood, Fla., burned to the ground in a matter of hours Monday morning.
Though the state’s Department of Forestry once suspected arson, the fire is now being treated as an accident.
“The thought now is that the fire was due to a lighting strike about two weeks ago,” said Steve Wright, a spokesman for the Seminole County Fire Rescue. “We think it was smoldering inside the tree and we only saw the blaze today, when it reached the top.”
The tree burned from the inside out in a sort of chimney effect. The Senator is hollow and it is thought that the fire burned its way through the middle.
“No one knew until it came up at the top,” Wright said. “It’s hard to reach the inside of a 118-foot tree. At one point, it began to collapse on top of us and we had to pull back and try again.”
The Senator is a historic landmark and believed to be one of the oldest in trees in the world.
The tree was donated to Seminole County by Sen. M.O. Overstreet in 1927 and was dedicated by Calvin Coolidge as a national historic landmark two years later.
Beyond the history of the tree, The Senator was a part of the culture of the area.
“I heard it on the radio this morning and I cried,” said Donna Williams, a longtime Seminole resident. “Anyone who has lived in this area, not to mention those who were born here, it’s part of your life because it’s so gorgeous and awesome. I got a chill.”
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Dammit Dammit Dammit!!!
Posted by: Jen | January 16, 2012, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm
So sad for something to have survived hurricane after hurricane and tornadoes and now burnt to the ground.
Posted by: Steph | January 16, 2012, 8:36 pm 8:36 pm
If you want to follow the money, this leads directly back to Rick Scott. If you noticed, they said it was arson for the first 14 hours, then conveniently “ruled it out” just as government officials walked in. He should be ashamed of himself if that is the case.
Posted by: Henry Chinaski | January 16, 2012, 10:10 pm 10:10 pm
Why does the text say 118′ tall and the audio say “over 150′ tall?” Why do so many news stories not even mesh from the source let alone mesh with reality?
Posted by: Shawn | January 16, 2012, 10:29 pm 10:29 pm
When asked to comment, Police Chief Clancy Wiggum commented, “Such a shame. That tree was only two days from retirement.” While it is a pity, the article stated that it was due to a natural event that has happened and will happen many times. Try as we might we can’t save everything in nature from nature, and typically do more harm than good by doing so.
Posted by: MyTake | January 16, 2012, 11:47 pm 11:47 pm
3,500 years old… Rome was still a village under eutruscan domination, the Mayans were just getting their act together… and Bronze was “high tech”…
Posted by: jeff | January 17, 2012, 1:54 am 1:54 am
Sorry to hear this. We lost a landmark the same way here in Webster Springs WV. A few boys started the fire inside the tree.
Posted by: mendy | January 17, 2012, 3:46 am 3:46 am
Not very long ago we had a natural state treasure “The Old Man of the Mountain” collapse off it’s rock base. My condolences, these are the things you expect to bring your children’s children to see, and it hurts to see them fall.
Posted by: jason rapsis | January 17, 2012, 8:09 am 8:09 am
That tree was something else–to stand by the deck next to it and look up toward the top, it really took your breath away. That was always one of my stops when traveling through Central Florida. If there is any kind of a silver lining, at least it burned from a lightning strike, not arson or other man-made causes. Long live Lady Liberty!! (the other big tree)
Posted by: ZF | January 18, 2012, 2:51 pm 2:51 pm
Shawn the tree probably use to be 150 a hurricane knocked a good chunk of it off years back.
Posted by: Bill | January 19, 2012, 3:16 pm 3:16 pm
Smoldered for 2 weeks and no one saw the smoke. I find that difficult to believe.
Posted by: Brewier | January 24, 2012, 8:31 pm 8:31 pm