Raging Fires on West Coast Threaten Historic Los Angeles Mount Wilson Obervatory, as Trump Finally Acknowledges the "Blue States'" Catastrophe While Still Promoting Climate Change Denial
September 14, 2020
Flames moving toward Mount Wilson Observatory (Bruce Roberts)
By Bruce Roberts
It is hard to describe what is about to be lost tonight and tomorrow to the Bobcat Fire raging above Pasadena, CA, but I will sum it up by saying this. Mount Wilson Observatory, founded in 1904, a mile above the Los Angeles basin, is where humanity discovered the Universe. It is where astronomer Edwin Hubble, using the largest telescope in the world, proved that there are distant galaxies, by measuring for the first time the distance to a “spiral nebula” now known as the Andromeda Galaxy. He went on, with Milton Humason, to provide the observational evidence that the Universe was expanding - the beginnings of modern “Big Bang” cosmology. With the first two modern, large reflectors (telescopes using mirrors instead of lens) this facility revolutionized the way astronomy was done and our understanding of our place in the Cosmos.
There is no site in the world that exceeds it in importance in the history of science. During the night and tomorrow, this famous observatory, the most productive in history, may be destroyed, severely damaged, or somehow saved.
The Bobcat Fire started on Sunday, September 6 deep in the San Gabriel Mountains, and has burned for a week, mostly north, east, and south. But for the last few days it has moved unchecked westward down into the canyon below Mount Wilson’s summit. With fires raging across the western United States, all competing for limited firefighting resources, no air large tankers were free to halt its westward progress with lines of Phos-Chek fire retardant or water drops. It is now racing upslope towards Mount Wilson. The weather conditions have created the perfect storm, with exceptionally dry vegetation. And the pandemic has undoubtedly added another level of difficulty to firefighting efforts.
As the Observatory faces down the fire, a skeleton crew of staff will assist the firefighters on the ground—until they may be ordered to leave. They have been working all week in extremely smoky conditions setting out hoses on all the hydrants ready for use, lowering metal fire shutters on building windows, and making countless other preparations for impending fire. Yesterday, LA County road operations on the mountaintop cleared a small landslide that has been blocking an old road to provide additional access for fire crews and a second escape route in case the new road is obstructed.
While I hope the Observatory makes it through relatively unscathed, the battle could go either way. The sun will be heating the forest and winds will pick up in the afternoon. My thoughts are with the firefighters who will be defending the observatory against the inevitable blaze. I know they will give it their best shot. But while the historic telescopes on the mountain that revolutionized humanity’s understanding of the Cosmos are a world treasure, we hope the firefighters will be safe. That is the most important thing.
Little attention has been paid by the media to what is at stake on this unique mountaintop above Los Angeles, perhaps because so much else is going on around us. It is impossible to comprehend all the many individual tragedies that are resulting from these western fires. Yet it is still surprising because the majority of their broadcast towers for the region’s radio, television, and communications are on the summit right next to the observatory. We will soon know the outcome, perhaps before this short article appears. For those who wish to see how it all unfolds, please visit mtwilson.edu. The homepage has links at the top their social media feeds, their live tower cams, and the U.S. Forest Service twitter page on the Bobcat Fire.
At the same time the Observatory will be in the depths of the crisis, POTUS will be arriving in California at the very airbase which dispatches air tankers to most of the state’s fires. Having said nothing about the fires for three weeks, he will probably want a photo op with the largest plane, a 747 so desperately needed somewhere else.
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