Fox News Christmas Tree Burned, Suspect In Custody

It was anything but a silent night outside of Fox News headquarters in New York City as Tuesday night turned to Wednesday morning. A convicted criminal set the FNC All-American Christmas tree ablaze, filling the downtown area with even more early morning sirens than usual.

Craig Tamanaha, a 49-year-old man with previous arrests for drug possession and public intoxication, can now add arson, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment to his arrest file.

Members of the Fox News security team saw Tamanaha climbing the 50' tree just past midnight and contacted police. When officers arrived on the scene a short time later, they spotted Tamanaha running from the fire. They were able to track him down and take him into custody. It's not yet known what Tamanaha used to start the blaze.

Workers spent 21 hours decorating Fox's tree, which is a staple in Midtown. The red, white and blue themed tree had 10,000 ornaments and more than 100,000 lights. Fortunately, no one was injured during the fire.

Suzanne Scott, Fox News Media's CEO, thanked the city's first responders in a company memo this morning: "There were no injuries and thankfully all employees working inside the building remained safe throughout the duration of the fire. We are very grateful to the FDNY which quickly mobilized to extinguish the fire and the NYPD which apprehended the criminal on site, who has since been charged with arson, among multiple other crimes. Our security team also did a great job responding to the incident immediately."

Scott then added that the media giant is already planning to replace the tree, complete with a lighting ceremony.

"This has become a new wonderful tradition on FOX Square over the last three years. We will not let this deliberate and brazen act of cowardice deter us. We are in the process of rebuilding and installing a new tree as a message that there can be peace, light and joy even during a dark moment like this," said Scott. "We are currently planning on a lighting ceremony for the new tree and will send those details once we have them."

Tamanaha should stick to yule logs next time. This year, his spot on Santa's nice list just went up in smoke.

 

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