Reflections on firefighting operations on Mt. Wilson

About three weeks have passed since I was following live news helicopter feeds of the Station Fire that was burning in the area of the Angeles National Forest and environs. I was able to watch the early phase of the ground fire fighting operations on Mt. Wilson along with some retardant drops by air tankers, and the Martin Mars making a water/foam drop. Being a little superstitious, I wanted to wait until after these operations were over before writing my reflections on firefighting operations on Mt. Wilson.

I don't mind telling you that I was a little worried about what would happen to the Mt. Wilson Observatory on the evening of August 30 into August 31 into September 1. I woke up each morning and checked on the internet to see if the fire had reached the observatory and the nearby communication towers. It had not.

It was Tuesday September 1 and it was in the early afternoon my time (EDT). A friend had clued me in that there was some live news helo feed of Mt. Wilson. As I was tuning in, I was not sure if there were any firefighters on Mt. Wilson. I could be wrong, but at the time I thought that the ground crews were pulled out of Mt. Wilson a couple of days earlier due to safety concerns. The news helo feed was very good with nice clear video. I was able to see ground crews digging line. I read later that ground crews were back on the mountain, perhaps by the prior morning working on digging line and cleaning out brush, leaf litter, and other vegetation. I was thrilled to see these ground crews, As the camera on the news helo moved around, I saw other ground crews digging line. My fears of the past 36 hours began to fade, turning to hope.

Then the camera turned to the one access road up the mountain. I saw around four engines, maybe more coming up the mountain. The calvary had arrived. I'm not ashamed to say that there were tears in my eyes as I watched this caravan of engines arrive at Mt. Wilson knew at that time that the odds were now in favor of saving the observatory.

I was very glad that I was watching this live, it was special.

Stay safe!