Sad Death of a 3500 Year Old Virtual

[+moparots]

"The Senator" burned down today. A 3500 year old Cypress tree. They don't know if it was arson, a brush fire, or even spontaneous combustion.

 

http://coord.info/GCDBD2

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-beth-kassab-senator-tree-obit-011712-20120116,0,107906.column

[+lamoracke]

wow, that is old. Strange for someone not in the area to log a DNF on it (as opposed to a note), but that is just a side note. Trees die, but would hate to hear someone did that on purpose, but it would not surprise me.

[+Planet]

Oh no! I've been to the Senator, still have the photos. That was a magnificent tree. It was HUGE!

I hope they continue the investigation.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Thanks for the update Craig, I'd not heard this. A sad thing for sure.

[knowschad]

wow, that is old. Strange for someone not in the area to log a DNF on it (as opposed to a note), but that is just a side note. Trees die, but would hate to hear someone did that on purpose, but it would not surprise me.

 

The state Division of Forestry said it wasn't arson, after firefighters earlier said it was. Instead, forestry trotted out speculation that a lightning strike smoldered for a while before catching on. Or that friction caused by the tree swaying caused a spark.

[+addisonbr]

Strange for someone not in the area to log a DNF on it (as opposed to a note), but that is just a side note.

I noticed that too, but then I thought that the blue sad frownie face was pretty appropriate.

 

(ETA that the blue DNF face is obviously not a smiley)

Edited January 17, 2012 by addisonbr

[+Isonzo Karst]

Years ago, I logged a DNF on the virt there, myself. Longish drive, and I arrived to find Big Tree park closed. I'd even checked their website before making the drive.

 

Anyway, I could have posted a note then, but the blue frownie was about how I felt.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Years ago, I logged a DNF on the virt there, myself. Longish drive, and I arrived to find Big Tree park closed. I'd even checked their website before making the drive.

 

Anyway, I could have posted a note then, but the blue frownie was about how I felt.

 

Well there is still a virtual at the General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park called "Living Large". Billed as the largest tree in the world, The General Sherman is approximately 275 feet tall and a diameter of 36.5 feet at its base. The Senator was 125 feet (38 m) tall, with a trunk diameter of 17.5 feet (5.3 m).

[+Genoist]

There is still another large tree there, plus it sounds like they are possibly planning a memorial using the remains of The Sentator. Hopefully this cache will live on, just in a slightly different form.

[AZcachemeister]

Hopefully this cache will live on, just in a slightly different form.

 

A virtual cannot be edited or changed in any way whatsoever.

 

Trees come and go...that is the natural order of things...but the possibility that someone could have 'burned it down' is disturbing.

 

Even if it was intentionally burned down, wouldn't they downplay that possibility to not give the bad guy(s) their jollies?

[+baloo&bd]

They should have made it a PMO to protect it.

[+Planet]

How would that protect it? The tree is in Big Tree State Park, has a boardwalk right to it, and lots of people visit it, daily according to what the neighbors said in the paper. This wasn't a secret location. I've even been there. The good news is, there is still another huge Bald Cypress tree there, Lady Liberty. About 1500 years younger, I think. So, it can still be Big Tree Park, and the other tree is right near this one, I think.

[+Totem Clan]

How would that protect it? The tree is in Big Tree State Park, has a boardwalk right to it, and lots of people visit it, daily according to what the neighbors said in the paper. This wasn't a secret location. I've even been there. The good news is, there is still another huge Bald Cypress tree there, Lady Liberty. About 1500 years younger, I think. So, it can still be Big Tree Park, and the other tree is right near this one, I think.

He forgot to the sarcasm marker when post that.

[+Planet]

NY Times article about The Senator

[4wheelin_fool]

It was burned by a meth addict.

 

 

[+Planet]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

May she rot, and sober up, in jail.

[+zack_black]

Maby somebody should light her on fire...

[+howarthe]

I don't understand how someone could set a fire that would burn a tree as big as this, but I live in Oregon where everything is wet all the time. Was this tree alive? lf it were dead then it would be dry and burn quite easily, I imagine. I'm really sorry its gone, but if the stump is 30 feet tall, then it might still be a tree worth visiting.

[+Gamaliel]

It takes me twenty minutes to start my barbeque but a couple of meth heads can manage this?

[+Sky King 36]

Yeh, anyone who has tried to get a fire going on purpose will tell you that the number of calories/BTUs you gotta be generating to get something with this kind of thermal mass burning is a serious amount of sustained heat. I can't believe "I just needed a little light so I could see my crack pipe" thing is going to hold water.

[+releasethedogs]

Maby somebody should light her on fire...

Yeah because that would solve a lot....

 

I don't understand how someone could set a fire that would burn a tree as big as this, but I live in Oregon where everything is wet all the time. Was this tree alive? lf it were dead then it would be dry and burn quite easily, I imagine. I'm really sorry its gone, but if the stump is 30 feet tall, then it might still be a tree worth visiting.

Some how she was INSIDE the truck of the tree.

[4wheelin_fool]

I don't understand how someone could set a fire that would burn a tree as big as this, but I live in Oregon where everything is wet all the time. Was this tree alive? lf it were dead then it would be dry and burn quite easily, I imagine. I'm really sorry its gone, but if the stump is 30 feet tall, then it might still be a tree worth visiting.

Some how she was INSIDE the truck of the tree.

 

Yes, she was inside of it.

 

Barnes, who claims to be a methamphetamine addict, was inside the tree with a friend while smoking the drug. She says she climbed the tree to get a better view of her surroundings, and because she needed light in the darkness to see what drugs she was doing.

 

While the tree was burning, she took pictures of the smoldering trunk and limbs. Later, she downloaded the photos on her computer to show to her friends.

 

She's also a model.

 

 

The fiery death of the tourist attraction in Longwood was initially deemed suspicious, then relabeled a natural accident after state arson inspectors determined the 118-foot tree burned from either a long-smoldering lightning strike or spontaneous combustion from strong winds rubbing wood fragments together.

 

But a phoned-in tip made soon after the blaze led Florida authorities to Barnes, who took photos of the flames with her cellphone, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

 

Officials said she showed people the images, and said, “I can’t believe I burned down a tree older then Jesus.”

 

On her page on the modeling site ModelMayhem.com, Barnes said she is “a diamond waiting to shine for the world in ways beauty and intelligence can only be used to describe. I am a nature enthusiast and I love capturing nature at it’s best, which is always, through a camera.”

 

The national landmark in central Florida’s Big Tree Park drew fans from across the country and was the park’s most popular attraction. President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the site with a bronze plaque in 1929.

 

Barnes’ Facebook page was quickly overrun by outraged “Senator” fans who posted angry notes, including “Burn in hell you horror of a human.”

 

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/03/01/030112-news-tree-burn-1-2

Edited March 2, 2012 by 4wheelin_fool

[+Sol seaker]

Sad Death of a 3500 Year Old Virtual

 

And I thought geocaching was only 12 years old.

I guess some caches never needed a GPS to find.

They are just so great they pass by word of mouth.

 

This is really sad when something like this happens.

There are so few old trees left around. They've all been cut down and sold.

 

I'm glad she got caught.

I'm sure she'll get hers now. They're not going to let her off easy I'm sure.

I also hope she gets the help she needs to get off meth.

You can't have a modeling career for long on that stuff.

There's pictures on the web called, "The faces of meth" that shows how the drug changes people's faces, and certainly not for the better. It really screws up people lives, bodies, and their looks too.

 

I hope she'll get straighted out, although our jails are to punish, not to reform.

 

 

Here is it.

Pretty creepy. Or ugly creepy I should say.

and the look in their eyes is the creepiest.

The Faces of Meth

She certainly wouldn't have been a model for long!!

I hope this incident helps her see the light.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Sol seaker

[+Isonzo Karst]

I don't understand how someone could set a fire that would burn a tree as big as this, but I live in Oregon where everything is wet all the time. Was this tree alive?

 

The tree was alive, but hollow, so it drew a fire really well. It would have a good deal of exposed dead wood internally, as well as quite a lot of dead fuel internally, drop down of twigs, limbs and leaves (needles). I can readily understand getting it started from a single match.

 

The time period was relatively hot dry and windy.

 

Most of the big old cypress in the southeast are around because they are hollow, which makes cutting them dangerous. They collapse into the first notch cut, ruining the saw and possibly injuring the sawyer.

[+DragonsWest]

Drugs don't make you stupid, they magnify your stupidity.

 

Tragic loss for generations or people for the high of one person.