Firefighters say one of the world's oldest cypress trees has caught fire in Central Florida.
Seminole County firefighters arrived around 7 a.m. Monday at Big Tree Park in Longwood where “The Senator” caught fire. Firefighters ran 800 feet of hose down a boardwalk through the woods to reach “The Senator.”
“Unfortunately due to the fact that it is so old, it’s actually burning from the inside out. It’s almost like a chimney effect,” Steve Wright with the Seminole County Fire Department said. “So it’s harder for us to get into it because it’s a collapse zone now.”
Wright said the fire was reported by a passerby before six Monday morning. When firefighters arrived, they found flames shooting from the of the 3,500 year old cypress tree.
Joe Abel, the director of Seminole County Leisure Services, arrived just in time to see “The Senator” collapse.
“It’s a pretty sad day, 35-hundred years,” Abel said.
“The Senator” is a 118-foot-tall bald cypress tree. Parks officials say the tree reached a height of 165 feet before a 1925 hurricane lopped off its top. Afterward, lightning rods were installed to protect the tree from more damage.
The tree is main attraction in the park dedicated in 1929 by President Calvin Coolidge.
Fire officials still don’t know how the fire started but they have ruled out arson.
Investigators are checking with the weather service to see if there was any lightening in the area.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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