Tag: Southern California Wildfires

Station Fire Now Threatens Stony Ridge Observatory

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Over these last few days, the Internet was abuzz with news about the Station Fire threatening the world-famous Mount Wilson Observatory. In case you don’t know what the observatory is famous for, Edwin Hubble used the 100″ Hooker Telescope to deduce that the Universe is expanding. So, yes, it’s an important site that needed to be defended for as long as was physically possible. Also, an array of telecommunications towers share the Mt. Wilson summit, so there was a lot at stake.

So far so good. The Station Fire is gradually coming under control, even though it still spreads east through the San Gabriel Mountains (and I can still smell smoke through my open office window). We’re not out of the woods, but at least the observatory is safe for now and fire crews are making great headway.

But hold on. What about Stony Ridge Observatory?

Stony Ridge Observatory?

Stony Ridge Observatory
Stony Ridge Observatory

Yes, there’s another observatory at stake. Not as famous as Mt. Wilson, but Stony Ridge is in jeopardy, if not more so. Stony Ridge is currently inside the Station Fire perimeter, five miles north of Mt. Wilson, and nobody knows if it’s been hit by the fires.

Stony Ridge Observatory is a single 30-inch Newtonian-Cassegrain telescope housed inside a dome. It is a site that was built and is maintained by amateur astronomers, and back in 1963, it was the 8th biggest telescope in California. Currently, the observatory is used for outreach activities and follow-up observation campaigns. It’s also accredited with a number of asteroid discoveries.

Unfortunately, Stony Ridge probably won’t see the aerial fire fighting we saw at Mt. Wilson. Ground crews have made attempts to approach the site, but access to the observatory was blocked by mountain debris on the road. In short, there is no word about the status of the observatory and there are no plans to mount a huge fire fighting effort.

When housing, communication masts and larger observatories are threatened by fire, resources are committed, but for an observatory the size of Stony Ridge, it’s the sad case of waiting for the fire to burn its course and then assess the damage after the fact.

For Stony Ridge Observatory fire updates, see the temporary fire updates page.

Source: Sky & Telescope via @buffalodavid.

Fire Fighters Step Down From Mt. Wilson, But Flare-ups Still Threaten Observatory [Update]

A morning view from Mt. Wilson Observatory. Lots of smoke, but the fires seem to have calmed (©UCLA)
A morning view from Mt. Wilson Observatory. Lots of smoke, but the fires seem to have calmed (©UCLA)

Update (Aug. 31st, 15:00 PDT): The situation has taken a turn for the worse it appears. Ground crews have been pulled off Mt. Wilson and the fire is approaching the observatory rapidly. The fire will now be fought from the air. The Towercam is no longer accessible (although it is probably overloaded with traffic):

Monday, 31 Aug 09, 2:46 pm PDT – CHARA Array operator PJ Goldfinger reported that at about 2:00 pm she monitored an LA County Sheriffs Department transmission advising a pullout from Red Box, the major staging area near the mountain. I just spoke with Sherry Roman, Public Affairs Officer of the Angeles National Forest. She could give no updates as to the status of the fire in the Mount Wilson vicinity except that the USFS still considers that passage of fire across Mount Wilson is imminent and will be fought aerially rather than with ground personnel. Once the fire is through the area, they can assess the damage by air after the event before they can send in ground personnel. She also confirmed what PJ’s monitoring implied, that firefighters have been removed from Red Box.

This roller coaster has taken a dip downward. —Mt. Wilson Observatory.

August 31st, 10:00 PDT: Well, last night was a rather dramatic night for the Mount Wilson Observatory. During the seemingly relentless charge of flames pushing dangerously close to the summit, news came in that it was very likely the Station Fire would arrive at the observatory some time last night. However, due to the brave efforts of fire crews who camped out on Mt. Wilson through the night, the observatory and telecommunication masts look like they’ve been saved, for now.

“At this point, I don’t think [the observatory] suffered any serious damage. We’ll probably get some flare-ups or threatening flame activity, but we don’t think it’s going to be a major problem,” Inspector Edward Osorio of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said this morning.

Aggressive brush clearance and fire retardant appear to have helped, slowing the advance of the flames. However, the observatory and critical communications equipment are not out of the woods quite yet. The threat of flare-ups could still pose an issue. Another cause for concern is the fact that fire crews have been ordered away from the observatory earlier this morning, possibly to relocate north of the fire, the direction it appears to be heading.

Monday, 31 Aug 09, 7:50 am PDT – At 6:25 this morning, fire crews were instructed to withdraw from Mount Wilson. Larry Webster and Dave Jurasevich left the mountain with them. I have just spoken with Larry and Dave when they reached the bottom of the Angeles Crest Hwy in La Canada, and they report minimal fire activity in the immediate vicinity of Mount Wilson. It is not clear why the withdrawal decision was made nor whether or not the fire crews will return. Those fire fighters joined other crews deployed at the Red Box turnoff to Mount Wilson, five miles from the Observatory. So, they are still within close proximity for redeployment. Thus, the good news is that the fire in the Observatory’s vicinity seems to have diminished. The bad news is that there are no fire fighters presently on the scene. —Mt. Wilson Observatory.

The Station Fire has claimed the lives of two fire fighters and caused nearly $8 million of damage. The fire is now 85,000 acres in size and continuing to spread in hot, dry conditions. Here in the San Fernando Valley, west of the Station Fire, the air is full with the smell of smoke and numerous poor air quality warnings have been issued.

Source: LA Times, Mt. Wilson