L.A.-Area Bobcat Fire Again “Making A Hard Push” For Mt. Wilson Observatory; TV, Radio And Cell Towers Threatened; New Evacuation Orders Issued

After days of backfires and dozer lines had held the Bobcat Fire away from the Mt. Wilson Observatory and communications infrastructure there, The U.S. Forest Service reports that the fire “is making a hard push” at Mt. Wilson, and “defensive strategic operations are beginning from Mt. Wilson to the west.” Every TV station in Los Angeles uses the towers atop Mt. Wilson to transmit its signal. Likewise many radio stations. The peak is also important for ensuring cell phone service in the area. According to the Angeles National Forest Twitter account, engines, hand crews and aircraft were working on Monday afternoon to snuff out spot fires to the north of Mt. Wilson. The fire was 15% contained as of Monday afternoon, a number that has remained unchanged for at least the past five days. The Bobcat Fire threatened the mountain last week. It came within 500 feet of the famed observatory and was beaten back. But in the days since low humidity and hazardous winds have allowed the blaze to more than double in size to 105,000 acres on Monday. That makes it one of the biggest fires in L.A. history. The 160,000 acre Station Fire was the largest ever recorded. For a sense of scale, the entire Angeles National Forest is 700,000 acres...MORE