What to do with a burned 96-foot Christmas tree? String up 8,000 lights

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Francisco Orosco, with the offices of South Coast Plaza, works on cleaning up debris left behind from the burned South Coast Plaza Christmas tree at Town Center Park on Wednesday. Crews have restrung lights onto the tree. (SCOTT SMELTZER / Daily Pilot)

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Mike Wiley, with the office of South Coast Plaza, works on wiring lights that are being strung on the burned Christmas tree at Town Center Park, across from the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel, on Wednesday. (SCOTT SMELTZER / Daily Pilot)

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Joe Seymour, with the office of South Coast Plaza, works on wiring lights that are being strung on the burned Christmas tree at Town Center Park on Wednesday. (SCOTT SMELTZER / Daily Pilot)

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Joe Kepler, left, Mike Wiley, center, and Joe Seymour work on wiring lights that are being strung on the burned South Coast Plaza Christmas tree at Town Center Park in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. (SCOTT SMELTZER / Daily Pilot)

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Crews restring lights on the trunk of the burned Christmas tree at Town Center Park on Wednesday. (SCOTT SMELTZER / Daily Pilot)

By Bradley Zint

Dec. 16, 2015 4:39 PM PT

A lighting equipment electrical malfunction is what likely caused South Coast Plaza’s Christmas tree to suddenly burn earlier this week, Costa Mesa Fire Department investigators announced Wednesday.

Based on witness interviews and surveillance video, the fire that quickly engulfed the 96-foot white fir early Monday morning originated within the tree’s top half section, officials said.

Fire authorities will finalize their report by the end of the week, according to a news release.

South Coast Plaza officials have since come up with a Plan B to show their Christmas spirit: decorating what’s left of the tree — basically its trunk — with 8,000 lights.

The light strands are anchored to the ground and attached to the tree’s tip, 70 feet in the air. Together, the effect is a tree shape, which South Coast Plaza is calling a “maypole-inspired, contemporary design.”

The tip also features a 36-inch, illuminated crystal star.

In a ceremony at 5 p.m. Wednesday, South Coast Plaza officials are scheduled to relight the tree, which is located in Town Center Park, a grassy strip across Bristol Street from the shopping center and north of the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel’s main entrance.

“A Christmas tree in Town Center Park has been a beloved part of South Coast Plaza’s annual holiday season for 34 years,” Debra Gunn Downing, spokeswoman for South Coast Plaza, said in a statement. “We intend to keep this family and community tradition for years to come.”

Capt. Chris Coates, a Costa Mesa Fire Department spokesman, said Monday that the tree, which cost about $120,000, burst into flames about 6:30 a.m. and was “pretty much destroyed” within five minutes.

No injuries or damages to adjacent buildings were reported.

The tree was placed in Town Center Park in October. The 34th annual tree-lighting ceremony took place Nov. 19.

The white fir from Mt. Shasta originally had 20,000 lights on it, which took about a month to install.

It hasn’t been a smooth year for Newport-Mesa’s other major Christmas tree, either.

When Fashion Island was installing its 90-foot white fir on Oct. 30, its tip made a dent in the side of an optical store, an incident that caused the tree to be a little bit shorter once hoisted in place. An Irvine Co. spokesman later described the incident “a small mishap” that inflicted “minimal damage to a store facade.”