So, there's this bloody huge fire a few miles North of us. They're calling it the Station fire because it started 1.5 miles up highway 2 from the L.A. Forest fire station. The number 2 is the highway we usually take to go up to OVRO, but apparently we won't be taking that road anytime soon... the fire has reportedly loosened rockslides onto it, burned railing posts, and melted roadsigns.
This is the official website of the fire. As you can imagine, it is experiencing pretty high traffic. It may take a while to connect. As of 10 minutes ago, the fire is currently estimated to cover 105,000 acres.
The fire is threatening Mount Wilson, home of the Mount Wilson Observatory, as well as a large part of L.A.'s communication towers. The Mount Wilson Observatory is where Edwin Hubble discovered that the Universe is expanding. Here's a photo of Hubble demonstrating this to some dude with messy hair. The older gentlemen was later reported to have said something about a blunder...
Mount Wilson is posting an update every couple of hours or so on their webpage. They also have a live webcam up there, but it is difficult to connect to due to high traffic. Ground firefighters have been pulled from the summit; after spending a couple of hectic days cutting down vegetation and spreading fire retardant, the situation is now too dangerous for them. Retardant will continue to be dropped by air, but the current plan is to let the fire sweep over the summit and hope for the best.
Besides damaging (and possibly destroying) a priceless historical observatory (not to mention the really cool instruments that are still working up there), the damage to the communications towers will interrupt broadcast television, radio broadcast, and mobile phone reception. If anyone wants to call us in the next couple of days, the home phone may be the best bet.
Some other interesting resources:
Mike Brown (a.k.a. the guy who downgraded Pluto) is tweeting from the 9th floor of Caltech's library.
Daniel at Cosmic Variance has a couple of very dramatic photos.
I took a few pictures over the past few days:
Friday. The smoke cloud is looking even more ominous, now.
Saturday night. 8 second exposure from the top of one of Caltech's parking structures.
7 comments:
Wow! Again, thanks for the updates. And thanks for the links Matt (we'll have to keep trying them since they're busy).
We're continuing to think of you. Jay says, "Be safe!" He's also quoting Smokey the Bear, but it seems a little late for that.
Love you!
Teri
Appreciate the update and the very real, close to home pictures you took. We keep watching the LA KTLA news channel but it helps to get your perspective. All of you take care, Val
0125484Hey guys
Thanks for the birthday wishes. Sounds scary, indeed. I hope it all gets under control too. Be safe and I hope to talk to you soon.
xox
Sabrina
oops sorry about the numbers...computer being weird
Sabrina
Hi from Morris! Thanks for the updates - wish we could share MB's floodwaters. (and MB has now officially had 9 consecutive months of below 'normal' temps - we hope Sept is summer for us!)
I was surprised to be able to get on to the links you included - pretty interesting stuff.
Take care of yourselves - hate thinking about you in all that smoke. N + I
Happy Birthday Bronson!!!
Love,
Aunty Teri, Uncle Jay, Daisy and Ruby
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