Whoa! Tannenbaum!

Fashion Island Newport Beach gets bragging rights for having the tallest Christmas tree in Orange County. The giant white fir, which holds up well in Southern California’s warmer climate, was cut on Mt. Shasta. A crane suspended the tree while it was cut to avoid crushing limbs and damaging surrounding trees. How it got here:

From Mountain . . .

1. Crane attaches at two places on tree, top third and bottom third

2. Trunk is cut; tree is lifted and turned horizontally and lowered onto truck

3. Tree sits on logs with V-cuts to prevent damage to limbs

4. Crew prunes additional 500 to 600 branches from surrounding trees to fill out tree

. . . to Island

A. Crane sets tree in 10-foot hole

B. Guidelines anchor tree in place

C. Holes drilled in trunk, extra branches fill out form

D. Entire tree sprayed with green flame retardant, then decorated

Trim and Trimmings

Height: 112 feet

Trunk width: 37 inches

Weight: 11 tons

Tree diameter: 32 feet

Lights: 10,000

Red ornaments: 3,500

Gold ornaments: 3,500

Light strands: 100

Extension cords: 100

Towering Trees

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the tallest tree as a 221-foot Douglas fir erected in 1950 at Seattle’s Northgate Shopping Center. Other tall Christmas trees, in feet:

South Coast Plaza: 85

Macy’s Union Square: 80

Disneyland: 58

Carlsbad Outlet Center: 55

National Tree (Washington): 78

Rockefeller Center: 74

Lighting Ceremony

Where: Bloomingdale’s courtyard, Fashion Island

When: Show with Santa, Snoopy and choirs, 6 tonight; lighting at 6:30 p.m.

Source: Victor’s Strictly Custom Christmas Trees, Fashion Island Newport Beach, Times reports, Encyclopedia Britannica and Guinness Book of World Records; Researched by APRIL JACKSON / Los Angeles Times