Posted on 08/31/2009 6:46:31 AM PDT by kellynla
it’s local laws, such as San Diego County that makes it illegal to clear bruah more than 100 feet.
You can’t cut down an oak tree.
My home in Glendale, I mistakenly let a seedling live oak grow and the trunk got to 7 inches, it’s now an endangered species and I can’t cut the damn thing down!
Had another one that was only 6 inches and I chopped the damn thing down!
The fire pretty much stalled in place today with the higher humidities....there was 20-30 percent humidity in much of the mtns....including Mt Wilson, whereas before it was dropping to 8
My friend at KTLA told me they can’t brush clear at Mt Wilson because there is some law you cant clear brush above 4000 feet.... Dont know how true it is...but its obvious something needs to be done up there!
I realize that you didn’t take these photos, but thank you again for collecting them.
They speak by themselves.
Here's what you do. Call any rain gutter shop that does copper gutters and ask them if you can drop by and buy a 7" copper gutter spike from them.
After dark, hammer the copper gutter spike into the trunk of the tree, and in time the tree will die. Who knows how the copper spike got in there. Kids, crazies, who knows? But, you'll have to chop it down all the same, and you won't get a citation for doing so.
I haven’t done any work up there on ABC since the 80s but except for channel 2 (i think) they are all on e;e leased land from the forest service and they are precluded from clearing the land.
The only thing that would be damaged in a fire at leAST AT abc (7) WOULD BE THE CABLES GOING UP THE TOWER TO THE ANTENNAS. The building is type I construction and wouldn’t be hurt.
Other than thst, is there any maps that show the exact extent of the fire in the La Crescenta La Canada area?
We now a lot of people that live in the area and a number of them above Foothill.
here is a full update of what was going on on Mt Wilson today.
http://www.chara.gsu.edu/CHARA/fire.php
Station Fire Threatens Mount Wilson
See the current view of the fire from the Observatory’s perspective as taken by the UCLA Towercam and check the overall status of the Station Fire at inciweb.org.
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 7:21 pm PDT - Much to report! I just got off the phone calling Larry Webster’s office on the mountain hoping to confirm his arrival. Instead of Larry, the phone was answered by LA County Deputy Fire Chief Jim Powers who is in charge of protection for structures at the Observatory. Wow, do I feel much better. First, Larry, Dave Jurasevich and John Harrigan arrived safely on site. When I identified myself, Chief Powers asked if I would like a briefing. You can imagine my answer. Here’s what I know.
Fire fighters arrived earlier than I previously reported and by 8:00 am they had started their prep work. They began at the northeast corner of the Observatory using drip torches all along a line from that point traversing the northern perimeter to the boundary of the antenna areas. They are currently applying the same treatment to the east and southern boundaries of the site and expect to complete that this evening. These fires will clear ground debris and burn down slope with the intention of meeting any approaching fire with depleted fuel. Many of you watched the Super Scooper drop a major load of water, which was deposited downslope from the backfires and not on the Observatory grounds. That has been supplemented by other aerial tankers and helitankers for more precision dropping at crucial locations. The goal is to slow down encroaching fire, disperse it and make it more manageable.
Chief Powers expressed his absolute confidence that they will save the Observatory. 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. He flew up to the mountain yesterday, was delighted with what he found and knew they could achieve success here. There are now 150 fire fighters on Mount Wilson. Not only are the crews from Calaveras County (Cal Fire) back up there, but there are Los Angeles County fire fighters and even a crew from Helena, Montana. They have eight engines equipped to spray fire retardant on structures in addition to the crew engines. Chief Powers told me this army of fire fighters is “not going anywhere. They are very hard working and talented people who will get the job done.”
After this uplifting briefing from Chief Powers, Dave called me from the CHARA conference room where he will be bunking down for the night. He filled in with some other information he’d learnd from the Chief prior to my own briefing.
The fire is slowly coming up to the mountaintop through the canyon containing the remnants of the old Strain’s Camp. Mountain water wells are located above the old tourist camping site. They are also anticipated as coming up the steep eastern canyon located between the Berkeley ISI facility and the CHARA machine shop - due east of the 100-inch telescope. The back fires will burn all the way down this canyon to disable this approach. Dave reported seeing fire on the way up at Eaton Saddle down towards Camp High Hill.
There is no structural damage on the mountain. A short in a pull box produce by old flimsy splicing was compromised by the back fires and power lost to the high pressure fire pump system. (We have also obviously lost our internet connection to the mountain.) John Harrigan and Larry Webster were shopping at “Mount Wilson Depot” - the electrical storage area in the 100-inch telescope building - for materials to construct a new power line to the fire pump building. This should present no difficulties at all for those guys.
Our facility is in great shape for defensibility and in the hands of a group of enthusiastic, highly experienced and absolutely devoted fire fighters. I want to acknowledge my predecessor Bob Jastrow for initiating a brush clearing program that we have continued, and I thank folks like the W. M. Keck Foundation for helping us a few years ago with funding for that activity. Chief Powers assured me that there is never a need to fully evacuate our site and it is essential that we leave knowledgeable personnel on site to assist them and ensure that our fire fighting and support infrastructure is functional. “They are as essential to your protection as smoke alarms,” Chief Powers said. That makes me feel so much better about letting Dave, Larry and John go back on site.
Hearing the absolute confidence and expertise in Chief Powers’ voice has given me great optimism for, what the Chief said himself, would be “another hundred years for Mount Wilson Observatory.”
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 3:40 pm PDT - Battalion Chief Cam Todd has requested that Dave Jurasevich return to the mountain to assist with some electrical problems the fire fighters are having. Accompanying Dave will be John Harrigan, an electrical engineer who has done extensive renovation of many of the original electrical systems on the mountain. Larry Webster is also returning with them.
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 3:30 pm PDT - I understand the Martin Mars Super Scooper is preparing a major watering operation involving Mount Wilson. Chris Farrington has provided this link that will show the water drop.
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 2:26 pm PDT - The Battalion fire chief on Mount Wilson has just called both Larry and Dave to ask how to turn off the fire alarm up there! His name is Cam Todd and he’s a Cal Fire chief with crews from Calaveras County. These are the same fire crews who did such a fantastic job prepping the place over the weekend before they were withdrawn yesterday morning. Chief Todd confirmed that these are indeed backfires and he said his guys are doing a heck of a job and their efforts are going just great!
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 2:15 pm PDT - The Mount Wilson webserver went down moments ago, most likely due to a backfire infiltration of a pull box containing telephone lines that bring us our T1 internet service. All future updates will be posted here.
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 2:04 pm PDT - CHARA Site Manager Larry Webster, who left the mountain yesterday morning, has told me that what we see on the TV feeds is exactly what the fire fighters told him they would do to deplete flammables on the ground. Their plan, which they would have implemented earlier had they not been withdrawn, was to start these groundlevel fire and literally walk along with them to keep them controlled. This is why we see no flames. The fires will consume the accumulation of needles from the many pine and fir trees as well as other scrub growth that could flame up and ignite lower limbs that would them permit the blossoming of the entire tree into flames. All the smoke we see is entirely consistent with this procedure. Larry and Dave are both delighted to see what’s going on, but I’ve got to say that seeing smoke next to those domes is very unsettling to me. Still, I know what the fire fighters are now doing is necessary to save the Observatory.
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 1:25 pm PDT - Go to www.ktla.com for live feed (click at the top of their homepage) from the mountain showing fire between the 60-inch and 100-inch telescopes along the south vacuum tube lines of the CHARA Array. White knuckle time, but if these are indeed backfires as we believe, then we are in good shape.
Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 12:58 pm PDT - A mirror site has been set up for the UCLA Towercam by Alex Avtanski. His link will help reduce congestion on the Towercam server, and I very much appreciate this kind service.
482.8125 LASD Countywide 1
482.8375 LASD Countywide 2 - Command Post - Operations patch to 483.7875 LASD Mutual Aid 3 East
860.7625 LAFD Command 11 - Sunland Structure Protection
470.5875 LACFD Blue 11 - Acton Structure Protection
484.6625 LAPD Citywide Tac 2 City of LA Closures
ICIS
TG33680 Verdugo Red 5 for La Crescenta Structure Protection
TG32912 Glendale PD Tac 3 for La Crescenta Closures
168.100 NIFC Command 2 (The Main Command Post) - linked to NIFC C9
166.725 NIFC Tac 5 (on the mtn)
164.1375 NIFC Tac 4
127.325 Rotor Aircraft
151.475 Calfire T13
417.800 NIFC Logistics
173.9625 USFS Region 5 Tac 5
CESRS 153.755 California Travel Net (Strike Teams in Transit)
Fixed wing, air to air-169.2875 AM
Air Attack-134.675 AM
Air coordinator-122.925 AM
http://www.northtreefire.com/gis/virtual.php
hopefully they will update this again by morning...you can zoom in on the Google map on their page.
thanks, the one I was really concerned about at the top of Briggs looks like it skated by.
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