Station fire likely to hit historic Mt. Wilson observatory, fire officials say

The fire burning in Angeles National Forest is approaching the historic solar observatory and television transmission towers atop Mt. Wilson, according to Los Angeles County fire officials.

The communications towers house transmitters for every major television station in Los Angeles.

“We expect it to get there in the next two to four hours,” said county fire Capt. Mark Savage.

Crews were clearing brush around the structures, but fire officials were not sure if they could leave personnel on the mountain to fight the flames because of the danger and limited escape routes. The fire is less than two miles away.

“It’s a serious situation,” said Bob Shindelar, operations branch director of California Incident Management Team 5. “Is the observatory going to make it? We’re doing everything in our power. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is impacted by fire today or tomorrow.”

-- Joe Mozingo

Photo: A fire spotting plane is seen flying above Mount Wilson communications towers as the Station Fire approaches critical communications point in the Angeles national Forest on August 30, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Comments

[Gary Pomeroy]

Dish network is no longer carrying some local stations broadcasting from Mt. Wilson, like ABC Channel 7.

[db]

Thanks for the info. Now how about telling us what any of it means? what happens if the TV towers are affected? What does "impacted" mean? Can a fire do serious damage? Are there backup towers? What's a "major" TV station?

[Briquet de Lemos]

Why the federal government and state governments do not join efforts and provide men and equipment to combat the wildfires in Los Angeles? The destruction of Mt Wilson observatory and the risks to human lives are just a local concern?

[tarheelchief]

These fires threaten the savings,the lives,and the scientific establishments.
It might be time to rethink our methods of fighting fires.
For example, does Mt. Wilson have enough money to set up a cistern and outdoor sprinkling system to surpress nearby fires.
It seems like the only solution to many fires is a local cistern system connected to the water and sewage systems.
Then outlets could be automated to go off during the earliest phases of the fires.I know the cost of pumping the water would be extremely expensive,but many folks who were given building permits on these lands should have someway of creating their own protection devices.

[sara]

Well, maybe now there will actually be some tv coverage of this fire. Of course, if it hits the transmitters, will it matter?

[Carole Aldrich]

Just heard about the threat to Mt. Wilson and problems with fighting the fire there because of smoke. Why can't they dump fire retardant based on GPS coordinates of the site they want to protect?

[BanjoJones]

my god.

[sondra berry-young]

I am sorry if the fire does take out the transmitters and we loose all these tv channels. However, i think much of the tv programing is terrible. Perhaps they could put cleaner shows on, lets suggestive of immorality and violence which is so dreadful to see on tv.

[Rick]

I'll continue to pray for all those brave firemen and firewomen who are up there in the Angeles National Forest fighting the fire and they are able to protect the observatory.

[jodie]

God forbid! the TV stations might go out! Ragnarok is upon us!

[Virginia Hoge]

This is a very, very scary, potentially tragic situation. Mount Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 and is known around the world for the huge advances in Astronomy made there.

Among other accomplishments, the 60" stellar telescope on Mount Wilson, designed by George Ritchey, is considered to be the Grandfather of all modern telescope design. Hubble used this telescope to make his famous discovery: the Big Bang Theory.

Read Mount Wilson Observatory Director Hal McAlister's website here for more updates and details:

http://www.mtwilson.edu/fire.php

[mike]

What a disaster if the Mt Wilson observatory is hit, I hope the firefighters can protect it.

[Victor Grippi]

Shame if we lose the observatory.

Hubble's pioneering work began at Mt. Wilson where he proved the existence of galaxies other than the Milky Way. Mt. Wilson is where Edwin Hubble first postulated Hubble's Law; where he showed that the observed red shift between galaxies is proportional to their distance away from Earth. This also proved the universe is expanding.

The 100 inch Hooker telescope should be airlifted out if possible. It will be a sad day for astronomy if this instrument is lost to fire.

[mimi barre]

Do you have any news on Singing Springs or Hidden Springs just past the tunnel on Angeles Forest Highway?

[Mike OHara]

*calling DirectTV*

[mimi barre]

Do you have any news on Singing Springs just past the tunnel on Angeles Forest Highway?

[mimi barre]

Do you have any information on Singing Springs just past the tunnel on Angeles Forest Highway?

[steve]

Well at least the Bears won tonight!!

[Adrian]

God bless our firefighters.

[Ian Barnes]

TV stations typically have secondary transmitters. Up here in the bay area, they all broadcast from the Sutro Tower in San Francisco, but the secondary transmitters are all over the place. LA's are probably the same way too. Cable tv wont be affected because they have direct feed from the stations, but if you have a dish, get ready to party like its 1959 because you're going to have to start moving your antenna to point towards each tv stations transmitter.

[John]

Are the helicopters able to fly at nite?
Near the base of Echo Mt. @Lake and Loma Alta, don't see many Helicopters

[Charles]

Haven't had any local English language television (save for a few religious ones that I never watch) since they converted to digital a couple months ago. It's now only Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Armenian, Mandarin, Farsi, Cantonese and I think Russian and others depending on the time of day. Why can't Channels 2-13 get decent digital transmitters to cover the west side? The analog ones worked fine now in their attempt to modernize they broke it. With the possible distruction of the towers, they may have a chance to fix the problem, not that I don't enjoy trying to figure out what they're saying in Mandarin on channel 18.8 but I'm in America, English is my mother language, and I would like to at least have an English option please. It's not like I'm in the SGV, there are a couple other English speakers where I live too and if you suggest subscribing to the folks at Time Warner cable, I'd rather perch myself atop Mt. Wilson.

[Raymond]

Actually, if the transmitters burn down only over-air TV, over-air radio and some cellphone service will be affected. All the local TV stations have satellite uplinks and cable TV connections so they could continue to broadcast to Time Warner Cable customers in the Los Angeles area and also to Dish Network in Meridian, CO and DirecTV in El Segundo, CA.

[Tom]

Ian Barnes, the satellite services don't get their feeds off-air -- they won't be affected if the transmitters are lost.

[bottomFisher]

No more TV transmitters....oh well...I'll just have to 'miss' all the commercials and watch hulu etc free in the internet.......now...that's not so bad...is it?