I thought Mt Wilson was out of danger... is the fire still going up?
I have heard and seen conflicting reports. Here is another: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10323008-94.html
My guess is Mt. Wilson will be spared. It has been threatened in fires before and didn’t go up.
Meanwhile, countless hundreds of ‘retired’ aircraft sit in California and Arizona deserts, any ten of which could be converted to water/fire-retardant dropping planes for next to nothing. Have them sitting in a hangar at Burbank airport until needed, and none of these very regular California wildfires would ever cause a problem again. These fires would be snuffed out before they even get going. But thanks to the firefighters union lobbying efforts, this never happens, and we get this devastation, every year, multiple times. But they’re ‘heroes’.
Yesterday, they said it was a matter of “when”, not “if”. I think they are hoping it will miss vital parts of the peak ... but there is the potential for great devastation.