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The webcam on UCLA's tower in the Mount Wilson solar observatory complex has no picture right now. Not clear if the outage is traffic or fire caused. [* Update: Comes and goes, so probably traffic.] All firefighters were taken off the mountain earlier his morning due to the danger of getting trapped, a Forest Service spokesman told the Times in a post at 11:03 a.m. "There is a good chance the fire will hit Mt. Wilson today," said Ray Dombroski. "The fire is currently on two sides of Mt. Wilson, about one-half mile to the north and about one mile southwest." The observatory blog posted at 7:50 a.m.:
At 6:25 this morning, fire crews were instructed to withdraw from Mount Wilson. Larry Webster and Dave Jurasevich left the mountain with them. I have just spoken with Larry and Dave when they reached the bottom of the Angeles Crest Hwy in La Canada, and they report minimal fire activity in the immediate vicinity of Mount Wilson. It is not clear why the withdrawal decision was made nor whether or not the fire crews will return. Those fire fighters joined other crews deployed at the Red Box turnoff to Mount Wilson, five miles from the Observatory. So, they are still within close proximity for redeployment. Thus, the good news is that the fire in the Observatory's vicinity seems to have diminished. The bad news is that there are no fire fighters presently on the scene.
UCLA Today has a story about the solar tower.
Noted: KNX reporting that the fire has gone over 100,000 acres.