Revered O.C. Cypress a Victim of Fire

One of the largest known remaining Tecate cypress trees was lost in Sunday’s wildfire in northern Orange County, authorities said Wednesday. The tree, christened “Big Mo” by a would-be developer several years ago, was spared in a first round of fire.

But flames fanned by fierce Santa Ana winds returned to claim it late Sunday, after helicopters had to be pulled from the fire in Coal Canyon to help battle a larger San Diego County blaze, officials said.

“”There’s no way to say for sure [keeping the helicopters on the Coal Canyon fire] would have made a difference,” said Ron Krueper, superintendent of Chino Hills State Park, which includes Coal Canyon

Fire officials confirmed the cause of the 2,400-acre blaze as a 50,000-kilovolt power line that emitted sparks as it was knocked to the ground by winds that reached 78 mph. It took 1,000 firefighters to battle the blaze, which broke out Saturday night near the Coal Canyon exit of the Riverside Freeway. Officials estimated the cost of fighting the fire at $621,732.

The tree was one of scores of Tecate cypress destroyed or damaged in the blaze. The stand was one of four in the United States. Only 11 others exist, all in Mexico.

“It was an extraordinary tree,” state parks ecologist Geary Hundt said. At 30 feet, Big Mo was at least twice the size of an average Tecate cypress and was probably about 200 years old. A tree in the canyon bottom known as Little Mo could grow to be as big as its forebear, Hundt said. “It’s a large, healthy specimen. “It was untouched.”