San Francisco firefighters and a city arborist spent nearly nine hours Tuesday battling a fire that burned inside a tree along the northern edge of Golden Gate Park.
The fire department was called to Fulton Street and Fourth Avenue at 2:53 p.m., according to Lt. Mariano Elias, a department spokesperson. Crews remained on scene until nearly midnight.
“A fire started at the base of the tree, got into the trunk system and continued burning inside,” Elias said.
The fire required help from the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, which sent an arborist in to cut into the tree so firefighters could reach the burning interior and put it out, Elias said.
Tamara Barak Aparton, the recreation and park agency’s deputy director of communications and public affairs, confirmed the fire happened inside the park, on Fulton Street between Third and Fourth avenues.
The tree was removed Wednesday morning.
A Reddit user posted a video from the scene, showing crews working around hoses and lights near a badly burned trunk.
The cause of the fire remained under review Wednesday. Officials had not said whether arson was suspected.