Wildfire within 500 feet of the Mt. Wilson Observatory near Pasadena

[Mrs. Overall]

Link to tweet

Angeles_NF
@Angeles_NF

The #BobcatFire is within 500 ft of the Mt. Wilson Observatory & crews are in place ready to receive the fire. Strategic firing is taking place in the south where air operations are strengthening dozerlines. Crews are working a spot fire that crossed Hwy 2 near Buckhorn.

[Grasswire2]

1. omg

Isn't there a DU-er who lives/works there?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. This is highly distressing news. The Observatory is an important landmark in LA.

Some scientific studies are still ongoing there.

Also, Mt. Wilson is the place where nearly all our TV and radio shows have their antennae to carry their broadcasts all over the basin.

If those burn, we could lose a valuable news resource. I don't know if they have any back-up plans.

[Hekate]

3. DAMN!

[Hekate]

4. Kick!

[crickets]

5. Oh, no. Hopefully it will be spared.

So far, it seems it's still there. I hope the telescopes aren't damaged by the heat. More background info in a fairly long article about fires in the region:

https://laist.com/latest/post/20200915/bobcat-fire-day10 - Updated September 15, 2020 5:48 PM

A MAFFS (modular airborne firefighting system, aka a big C-130 converted for water dropping) was on loan from Sacramento and making drops near Mt. Wilson. [snip]

The heat can do irreparable damage. Our two big telescopes are historically significant and irreplaceable,” Meneghini said.

However, he said fires have gotten close before and the decades-old firefighting setup at the Observatory is ready to be used again. "We have an inground system of hoses and pumps," he said.

"We have half a million gallons of water ready to pump so that’s all been prepared for any fire professional to come in and take over."

[more]

https://twitter.com/MtWilsonObs