Mount Wilson Observatory In Danger From L.A. Fire

An anonymous reader writes "Mount Wilson is in danger from the Station fire burning near L.A. Their servers have gone offline, but there's a temporary mirror cam. It doesn't look good. Picture twenty-four on the L.A. Times photo gallery shows the observatory from the air. If anyone has any inside news on the condition of the facility, I'm sure there are lots of people on Slashdot who would love to hear it."

Not the observatory!

[MidnightBrewer]

I hope they can protect it! It would be a great tragedy to lose the observatory. Its beautiful architecture, unique location and accessibility to the public makes it a real treasure.

Re:Watching it from home

[FleaPlus]

From the link you posted, I swear these folks in a cabin near the fire seem to be begging for a Darwin Award. I'm actually kind of pissed that the Fire Department has to waste some of their limited resources on these people:

Some residents in the fire's path continued to ignore orders to evacuate.

Five people at a cabin near Big Tujunga Road and Gold Creek were reportedly safe for the moment, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Sheriff's deputies ordered the four men and one woman to evacuate Sunday, according to Whitmore. They refused. The fire advanced on their cabin and they later asked for help, Whitmore said.

Flames were too dangerous to allow sheriff's crews to go in to rescue the group. Luckily, flames shifted and missed the cabin. Since then the people have been visited as many as six times and refused to leave.

They have signed releases provided to them by the sheriff's department acknowledging the danger they still face.

Re:Sounds like it's safe according to this blog

[couchslug]

"He said that while it may have appeared over the last day or so that the Observatory was being neglected, that they never lost sight of the importance of Mount Wilson's preservation and it is now their highest priority."

They need to remember that after the fire and cut a suitable firebreak around anything they want to save in future.
There wouldn't be a fire nearby without fuel, so remove the damn fuel. Hearing of wildfire after wildfire aggravated by piss-poor management doesn't excite my sympathy. Cut the shit down.

Re:Probably will be fine.

[techno-vampire]

In case you haven't noticed, the observatory is at the top of a steep, rugged mountain. Not only would what you suggest be very difficult, it would be useless. You see, fires move up hills very easily, because heat rises. And, of course, burning embers have been known to jump much larger gaps than a mere 50 meters, making the "firebreak" useless.

Re:Sounds like it's safe according to this blog

[wgoodman]

Not as a one time thing.. but since brush grows during spring/summer, and somehow fires all seem to happen in late summer, im sure *someone* with a lawnmower could potentially discover some sort of way to make it safer on a ~monthly basis..